'Asked HR to help' | Amazon worker's miscarriage puts focus on workplace pregnancy policies

Allegations that an Amazon worker suffered a miscarriage after the company denied her requests for lighter duties has put workplace pregnancy policies back in the spotlight.

Earlier this week, Vice publication Motherboard reported claims that Patty Hernandez, a 23-year-old Amazon warehouse worker in California, miscarried after seven weeks of pregnancy during a shift at one of the firm’s fulfilment centres in October 2020.

At the time, her ten-hour shifts involved lifting bins of merchandise, weighing up to 50 pounds, onto conveyor belts.

Motherboard said it had had sight of a doctor’s note provided by Ms Hernandez to Amazon’s HR team, which is said to have suggested “no lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying more than 20 pounds, and no walking or standing for more than 50 percent of her shift.”