Amazon employees fight back against performance plan 'courts'

Employees at Amazon are speaking out against the online giant’s ‘Pivot’ scheme, which allows employees to face a ‘court’ of their colleagues if they are not meeting expectations – Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

The programme gives employees the option of arguing their cases against their manager in a teleconference attended by other employees, apparently inspired by union grievance processes. It was introduced last year, and also offers the choice of leaving with severance pay or attempting to reach the manager's expectations. However, some workers do not think the system is fit for purpose.

“It’s a kangaroo court,” George Tamblyn, a Seattle employment lawyer who helped one former Amazon worker plan her appeal earlier this year, told Bloomberg.

“My impression of the process is it’s totally unfair.”