Amazon to Hold Off Warehouse Phone Ban ‘Until Further Notice’

Amazon.com Inc. is backing off plans to ban cell phones in warehouses, allowing employees to keep their devices with them at work.

The reversal follows the emergence of a more contagious strain of Covid-19 and after six workers died at a facility struck by a tornado last week, which reinforced a desire among warehouse employees to have access to real-time information in emergencies.

Some Amazon warehouse workers received messages from the e-commerce giant Friday that mobile phones would be allowed “until further notice,” which a spokeswoman for the company confirmed Saturday.

For years, Amazon prohibited employees from having their phones ...