1000’s of supply drivers filed authorized claims towards Amazon on Tuesday, alleging the corporate’s classification of them as impartial contractors as a substitute of staff has led to unpaid wages and different monetary losses.
Two legislation companies spearheading the motion mentioned about 15,860 Amazon Flex drivers have submitted arbitration claims with the American Arbitration Affiliation, the place 453 related instances are already being litigated.
Amazon’s Flex program, which was based in 2015, indicators up drivers to ship packages with their very own vehicles and a particular app.
The corporate pitches the work as a versatile, part-time alternative that permits folks to earn further earnings through the hours they select. Most drivers earn $18-25 per hour, in line with Amazon, although how a lot they receives a commission can rely upon different components, resembling their location and the way lengthy it takes to finish deliveries.
The arbitration claims submitted Tuesday have been made by drivers in California, Illinois and Massachusetts, all of which have guidelines that restrict the quantity of management firms can exert over impartial contractors. The claims, collected over a span of 4 years by attorneys Joseph Sellers and Steven Tindall, preserve the drivers ought to be categorised as Amazon staff as a substitute of impartial contractors, primarily based on present legal guidelines within the three states.
That change would enable Flex drivers to gather unpaid wages as a result of Amazon solely pays them for a pre-determined variety of hours no matter how lengthy it takes to finish deliveries, in line with the attorneys. It might additionally enable Flex drivers to obtain time beyond regulation pay in the event that they work greater than 40 hours every week and get reimbursements for work-related bills, resembling gasoline prices and automobile put on and tear.
Gasoline and different automobile prices are a “huge expense to our clients,” Tindall mentioned throughout an interview. He additionally mentioned one consumer represented within the claims labored 7-day weeks making deliveries for Amazon throughout a vacation interval and by no means was paid time beyond regulation.
In a ready assertion, Amazon spokesperson Branden Baribeau touted the advantages of the Flex program, saying it provides “individuals the opportunity to set their own schedule and be their own boss, while earning competitive pay.”
“We hear from most of the Amazon Flex delivery partners that they love the flexibility of the program, and we’re proud of the work they do on behalf of customers every day,” Baribeau mentioned.
Tindall and Sellers say they’ve to date succeeded in seven of the eight arbitration claims towards Amazon they took to trial. The drivers they represented in these instances have been awarded a median of $9,000 in damages.
Amazon’s enterprise mannequin for its driving workforce – made up of impartial contractors and third-party companies that enable the corporate to keep away from unionization – faces scrutiny and challenges from totally different corners.
A bipartisan group of greater than 30 U.S. senators despatched Amazon CEO Andy Jassy a letter final week asking for extra info on the corporate’s relationship with the 1000’s of impartial companies that make thousands and thousands of deliveries every day as a part of Amazon’s Supply Service Companions program.
In March, the Wisconsin Supreme Courtroom let stand a decrease courtroom ruling that declared Flex drivers to be staff – a call that might enable them to be a part of the state’s unemployment insurance coverage system and entitled to jobless pay if they’re laid off.
The Teamsters union, which is searching for to prepare Amazon’s drivers, additionally filed a criticism on the Nationwide Labor Relations Board final yr difficult how the corporate classifies a few of its drivers.
