Amazon site closure in Saran at least from April 16 to 20 inclusive.//GELYPATRICK_1842007/2004161846/Credit:PATRICK GELY / SIPA / 2004161850 – PATRICK GELY / SIPA
The French Amazon sites will remain closed for two more days, until Wednesday included, said Sunday the American giant of the online business, which hopes to obtain on Tuesday the lifting by the justice of
limitation of its activities.
“We remain puzzled by the Nanterre court decision rendered last week and look forward to hearing our appeal. We temporarily maintain the suspension of the activity of our French distribution centers “, explains the company in a declaration transmitted to AFP.
Employees paid 100%
The approximately 10,000 employees and temporary workers in six warehouses in France are therefore expected to stay at home until the reopening. They have been informed of the extension and a meeting with the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) is scheduled to take place on Monday. They will remain 100% paid, said the company, which has not applied for short-time working.
Consumers are still able to use the Amazon platform to buy and have products delivered from abroad. The Nanterre court had ordered Amazon France on April 14 to limit its activities to essential products (hygiene, medical products and food), under penalty of a fine of one million euros per violation found.
Health measures not respected
Seized by a union, the court had highlighted several problems, including the turnstiles at the entrance to sites that create gatherings of employees violating distancing measures, ditto in the changing rooms, or the passage of packages from an employee to another that can transmit the virus.
Judging the distinction between the types of products ambiguous and faced with the risk of being fined, Amazon had then announced to temporarily close its distribution sites until Monday inclusive, and take the opportunity to clean its warehouses and conduct an assessment of risks
facing Covid-19.
According to the Foxintelligence e-commerce barometer, Amazon’s market share in this sector in France stabilized at 36% during the fourth week of containment. Its annual business volume in the country reaches 7.73 billion euros, according to panelist Kantar.
