Amazon to hold off warehouse phone ban 'until further notice'

Amazon.com is backing off plans to ban cell phones in warehouses, allowing employees to keep their devices with them at work.

The reversal follows the emergence of a more contagious strain of Covid-19 and after six workers died at a facility struck by a tornado last week, which reinforced a desire among warehouse employees to have access to real-time information in emergencies.

Some Amazon warehouse workers received messages from the e-commerce giant on Friday that mobile phones would be allowed “until further notice,” which a spokeswoman for the company confirmed on Saturday.

For years, Amazon prohibited employees from having phones on warehouse floors and required them to leave them in their vehicles or in lockers near break rooms. The rule was temporarily relaxed during the pandemic, and Amazon announced earlier this year it would resume in January. The collapse of the Edwardsville, Illinois, warehouse near St. Louis amplified concerns  about the return of the phone ban in work areas.