Amazon Flex is a program run by the company that pays people to use their vehicles to deliver packages to customers. The Amazon Flex website claims that most drivers earn US$18-25 an hour, depending on location, tips, and how long it takes you to deliver packages.
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Tips are a massive portion of an Amazon Flex driver’s income. A recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation shows that Amazon failed to pay its drivers the total amount of tips they earned for over two and a half years.
The FTC sites Amazon and Amazon Logistics for not complying with their advertised 100% tips to drivers. The Amazon Flex program is part of the Prime Now, and AmazonFresh programs and customers are allowed to give drivers tips.
“Rather than passing along 100% of customers’ tips to drivers, as it had promised to do, Amazon used the money itself,” Daniel Kaufman, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “Our action today returns to drivers the tens of millions of dollars in tips that Amazon misappropriated, and requires Amazon to get drivers’ permission before changing its treatment of tips in the future.”
The FTC’s investigation revealed that in late 2016 Amazon allegedly amended its hourly rate and promised tips but did not disclose it to the drivers, using the tip monies to make up the difference, resulting in a difference of more than $61.7 million, the agency said.
The FTC also alleged that Amazon intentionally failed to notify drivers of the pay change even after receiving hundreds of complaints from drivers after the earnings decrease.
After becoming aware of the FTC investigation in 2019, Amazon returned to the tip-based pricing model, the agency said.
ibTimes
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