Amazon Layoffs: Fired Staff can now appeal to an internal jury

Amazon, an American e-commerce and cloud computing company provides an opportunity to its employees who are about to be discharged, to present themselves in front of the jury made up of their co-workers.

The employees who fail to do so, or lose the case, get to choose between a severance pay or a performance-improvement plan.

Reports implied that only 30% of employees who appeal their manager's criticisms are able to keep their jobs.

Last year, Amazon announced this new management process to manage the large workforce of 500,000 but doubts emerged instantly. Amazon accepted that it had been quick to fire employees instead of trying to resolving the complications through other ways.

According to a Bloomberg report, the executives recognized that poorly defined roles, dysfunctional teams, and peremptory managers were among the factors that often remained unexamined.

The hearing process has raised questions about fairness, according to workers and their attorneys.

“It’s a kangaroo court,” says George Tamblyn, a Seattle employment lawyer who helped one former Amazon worker plan her appeal earlier this year. “My impression of the process is it’s totally unfair.”

The company also has career ambassadors on-board to explain this process to the employees.