Skip to main content

Amazon Prime Now Drivers File Suit & Claim They Were Paid Less Than Minimum Wage


Last week, four former Amazon Prime Now drivers sued Amazon and a carrier service, Scoobeez,and alleged the company violated minimum wage and overtime pay laws.  For those not familiar with Amazon Prime Now, the company now offers one to two hour delivery for many of its products in select cities around the country.  

Note, the former drivers were not actually Amazon employees but instead were identified as "independent contractors" working on behalf of Scoobeez that apparently had a contract with Amazon.  Since these drivers do not work directly for Amazon, the company does not have to be concerned with payroll taxes, workers' compensation or unemployment insurance taxes.  Since the drivers were classified as independent contractors, Scoobeez also did not have to cover these costs.  As a result, the drivers had to cover their own work related costs such as vehicles, gas, insurance, etc.  

These drivers have alleged that after paying their own automobile expenses, their wages fell below California's minimum wage rate of $9/hour.  In addition, the drivers were apparently also not paid the required time and a half overtime rate either.  As with any good wage and hour case, these drivers allege they were improperly classified as independent contractors rather than employees.  

As of now, there has been no comment from Amazon or Scoobeez on the suit.  It will be interesting to see where this case goes...and whether Amazon continues to offer Amazon Prime Now.


A copy of the complaint can be found here:  big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/amazonprimenow.pdf

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking: Labor Secretary Rumored to Be Leaving Administration

A few hours ago, word leaked out that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (“Walsh”) is in the midst of negotiations to head up the NHL Players Union and leave his position at the Labor Department. Walsh, who has served as the sole Labor Secretary under President Biden, has taken part in a labor renaissance of sorts as support for organized labor has increased during his term as Labor Secretary (although the number of workers that have joined a union over the past two years has not grown as mush as some expected.)  He has also overseen the ongoing negotiations with rail workers over a new contract, although that matter is still on shaky ground and playing out as we speak. As for who might step into the vacant Labor Secretary role, there are already rumblings that President Biden should nominate Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su (a strong labor advocate) or even a progressive like Senator Bernie Sanders.  Until Walsh officially gives his notice, however, I would expect some/many potential...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more