In a data protection review procedure, the management of the Amazon distribution center in Winsen is taking the Hanover Administrative Court to court against the State Commissioner for Data Protection of Lower Saxony, Barbara Thiel. According to the court, she issued a court order against the company in October 2022, according to which the continuous collection of employee performance data is not allowed.
The legal dispute is about the fact that a system is used in the German logistics center in which various work steps are noted using a hand scanner. Supervisors can thus constantly see how many packages are being sent.
In October 2020, the data protection officer banned the continuous collection and use of employee data. According to information from the court, it takes the view that the continuous collection of the associated performance data is illegal and in violation of data protection regulations.
According to Amazon, data is mandatory
Amazon states that individual, down-to-the-minute performance values are required when managing logistics processes in order to respond to “fluctuations in individual process paths due to shifts”. On the basis of the current performance values of the employees, one can see whether they work particularly fast or very slowly on a given day and react accordingly by reassigning them.
In the medium term, earlier individual performance values would be needed to capture the constant strengths and weaknesses of employees and take them into account in flexible deployment planning. In addition, this approach allows for “creating objective and fair evaluation bases for feedback and personnel decisions”.
“Merchandise management systems are an industry standard and research shows they have a positive impact on the work experience of employees. We are convinced that the existing system complies with German law and EU regulations. We have appealed against the 2020 decision of the Lower Saxony data protection authority, which has led to the upcoming court case,” Amazon said.
The lawsuit now has a suspensive effect, so that it is currently being recorded, according to a spokeswoman for the court. The 10th chamber responsible for data protection initially planned a negotiation day at the Amazon location on Thursday. The court is not aware of further proceedings at other locations. Winsen is one of the 20 major logistics centers in Germany. About 1900 employees work there.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
