Nearly $60 Million in Tips to Be Repaid to 140,00 Amazon Drivers After Company Allegedly Withheld Them

Around $60 million in tips is expected to be repaid to Amazon drivers after the company had allegedly withheld them. The amount is expected to be paid to a whopping 140,000 different Amazon drivers.

FTC Announces Amazon to Pay Drivers

The Federal Trade Commission or FTC just recently announced that Amazon is going to be paying a little more than $60 million after withholding tips from its own Amazon drivers. Both the FTC and even Amazon have reportedly settled back in February.

During the settlement between the FTC and Amazon in February 2021, the company actually agreed to pay over $61.7 million. This is the full amount that the tech giant had allegedly withheld which then caused the FTC to move forward and compensate the Amazon Flex drivers.

Amazon Flex Drivers Payment

According to the story by USAToday, the FTC noted back in February 2021 that Amazon Flex Drivers were actually told that they would only be paid $18 to $25 per hour. There were reportedly a lot of statements noting things like drivers will be receiving 100% of the tips that they would earn while driving with Amazon Flex.

The acting director of the FTC's very own Bureau of Consumer Protection, Daniel Kaufman, gave a statement. Instead of passing along 100% of consumers' tips towards the drivers, it was noted that it had initially promised to do. It was then stated that Amazon had then decided to use the money on itself.

FTC is Sending Out Checks

The FTC is reportedly sending out 139,507 checks as well as 1,621 PayPal payments directly to drivers. It was stated that the average check for the Amazon Flex drivers also included the settlement being at $422.

There are 19,980 drivers, however, that are expected to receive checks worth over $600. It was stated that the highest amount that is going to a single Amazon Flex driver will be at $28,000. Amazon was said to allegedly be using its algorithms in order to fire contractual Flex delivery employees.

Amazon Flex vs. Amazon Delivery Drivers

Amazon Flex is actually different compared to the regular Amazon delivery drivers. It was stated that Flex drivers are considered independent contractors who can easily download an app that will then allow them to select certain orders that they might want to deliver.

All the drivers would then need is a personal vehicle just like a 4-door, mid-sized sedan or even a larger vehicle like a truck in order to make deliveries. Flex drivers deliver both goods and groceries that are ordered directly through Amazon Prime Now as well as AmazonFresh programs, as per the FTC.

Amazon Flex would reportedly allow customers to be able to tip the independently contracted drivers. The affected drivers are now supposed to deposit or cash in the given checks before January 7, 2022. In early October. Amazon delivery partners are saying they are being treated like robots due to the tough and unrealistic standards of the company.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian B.