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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday August 25 2019, @11:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the people-tip-Amazon-drivers? dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by Booga1 on Monday August 26 2019, @02:53AM (2 children)

    by Booga1 (6333) on Monday August 26 2019, @02:53AM (#885482)

    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]

    It began in the aristocratic homes of feudal Europe, when lords would give their servants a little extra money when they went above and beyond their duties.

    When the practice was brought to the United States in the 19th century, the American public was deeply uncomfortable with it. Many saw tipping as undemocratic and therefore un-American. A powerful anti-tipping movement erupted, fueled by the argument that employers, not customers, should be paying workers. But American restaurants and railway companies fought particularly hard to keep tipping, because it meant they didn’t have to pay recently freed black slaves who were now employed by those industries.

    Europe eventually did away with tipping. But in America, pressure from powerful corporate interests resulted in a two-tiered wage system for tipped and non-tipped workers, institutionalizing a highly racialized system of economic exclusion. Formalized in 1938 in the first minimum wage law as part of the New Deal, this separate and unequal system stated that employers were not obligated to pay a base wage to workers whose minimum wage was met through tips.

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  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday August 26 2019, @03:48AM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Monday August 26 2019, @03:48AM (#885496)

    Thanks.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 26 2019, @04:05AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 26 2019, @04:05AM (#885499)

    Tipping has a longer history [wikipedia.org] than the times of Medieval Europe.