Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Amazon will no longer use drivers' tips to cover their base pay
Amazon has pledged to be more transparent and to tell its its Flex delivery drivers how much they actually earn, according to an email sent to contractors as seen by the LA Times. Perhaps more importantly, the e-commerce giant will no longer dip into drivers' tips to cover their base pay. LA Times reported earlier this year that the company used drivers' supplemental earnings to fulfill the $18-to-$25-per-hour base pay they're guaranteed.
The delivery drivers weren't aware of the practice due to the lack of transparency. They weren't told how much of the money they get came from tips, so some of them had to experiment by ordering items themselves to figure out what was going on. Going forward, based on Amazon's email, the company will start sending them a fare breakdown for their shift, showing how much their base pay is and how much tips they got.
"While earnings vary by region and block, with the change to Amazon's minimum contribution, we expect nationwide average earnings for these blocks to increase to more than $27 per hour," the email reportedly read.
This is similar to DoorDash, who was recently called out for using driver's tips to fulfill the minimum wage that the company guaranteed.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Sunday August 25 2019, @11:48PM (7 children)
I know its been going on for 30-40 years (and I was a busboy during that period, made more tip money on New Year's Eve that I would the rest of the month). I live in CA, which as far as I know doesn't allow this. There is a minimum wage. You pay your employees minimum wage, if not more. Any extra they earn is theirs. Hopefully the waitresses share the tips with the busboys, cook staff, and hostesses. After all, the waitstaff deals with the customers, but the busboys and cooks and hostesses have a lot to do with the dining experience.
The owner of the joint sitting in their hot tub sharing some $200/bottle wine with their mistress? Notsomuch.
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday August 26 2019, @12:05AM
I worked in a Holiday Inn breakfast restaurant one summer, nice spot by the pool on a really great beach. 1984, I think, and we'd get guys in there who'd order a $2 cup of coffee and leave a $3 tip...
Anyway, the hostess was a pregnant witch all summer, and she could "read" the clientele coming in the place, and if a particular waitress was on her $hit list, that waitress would get all the light-to-non-existent tippers. As a busboy I got 10% of everybody in the restaurant, and I think the hostess got 20% of everyone, but the waitresses had to really stay on her good side or they'd go from a $100 morning to a $20 morning real quick.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 26 2019, @12:07AM
It definitely feels like actionable fraud if they falsely indicated that they were taking money as a tip that would go straight to the driver. Any given person in unlikely to sue over a few dollars they paid for tips. But it's pretty much exactly the sort of thing that class action lawsuits were made for. Each customer gets a dollar back, but the lawyers can beat up Amazon in aggregate for millions of dollars for being shitty.
(Score: 2) by Booga1 on Monday August 26 2019, @12:12AM (4 children)
This has been going on for far longer than that. It also depends on region. In the US South, during slavery it was normal that much of the waitstaff were unpaid slaves. Giving them tips was seen as a way of demonstrating how generous the patron of the restaurant was.
For some perspective on that: https://qz.com/609293/how-american-tipping-grew-out-of-racism/ [qz.com]
However, several states have directly fought against the use of tips as wage replacement by passing laws forbidding it.
Another disturbing trend is tip pooling where managers get to siphon off portions of tips. Not quite the same as this story, but very similar in effect.
(Score: 3, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Monday August 26 2019, @02:26AM (3 children)
The Wikipedia article on tipping seems a bit more balanced. [wikipedia.org]
I like this bit:
No shit.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Booga1 on Monday August 26 2019, @02:53AM (2 children)
Indeed, which is why I clarified it with regards to region. Of course it varies by occupation as well. The link I included came from that very same Wikipedia article. Though, perhaps a little more context would be helpful regarding timelines:
https://www.fordfoundation.org/ideas/equals-change-blog/posts/american-tipping-is-rooted-in-slavery-and-it-still-hurts-workers-today/ [fordfoundation.org]
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday August 26 2019, @03:48AM
Thanks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 26 2019, @04:05AM
Tipping has a longer history [wikipedia.org] than the times of Medieval Europe.