Abstract
Do legal norms in the OSH sphere set a boundary for the use of AI and algorithms at the workplace? With a focus on Amazon warehouses, this paper compares the rationale underlying recent laws enacted in Poland and the United States, which aim to define the amount of physical labour that can be performed by an employee during the working shift. In the U.S., warehouse quota laws were passed in five states in response to an organization of the work process that was found to cause high worker injuries. This system also came under scrutiny in Poland. At its centre were violations of an ergonomics standard that sets limitations on the workload, quantified as admissible values of energy burned by workers on the job. Such regulations express the OSH principle that employers must adapt the work to the individual. This paper argues that “individualization” as a legal premise might present a real challenge to AI-powered work organization, which overlooks individual predispositions and tailors the work to the most productive employees.