New York
CNN
—
Greater than 15,000 Amazon contract drivers filed arbitration claims towards the e-commerce big on Tuesday, alleging Amazon categorized them as impartial contractors as an alternative of staff with minimal wage and additional time rights.
Hundreds of thousands of People take part within the “gig economy,” freelancing work via supply and trip apps like Lyft, Uber, Doordash and Instacart. However as gig work has gotten extra well-liked, lots of these employees say they’re the truth is staff, not simply contractors, and due to this fact deserve extra advantages and protections.
The definition and rights of a contract employee versus an worker, for instance, has been fiercely debated in legal guidelines equivalent to California’s Prop 22, which permits ride-hailing and supply drivers to be handled as impartial contractors with some added advantages, together with a minimal earnings assure.
Amazon Flex, launched in 2015, permits impartial contractors to enroll to ship Amazon packages. Flex drivers present Amazon Contemporary grocery deliveries or same-day deliveries from the corporate’s warehouse hubs. Because the drivers are categorized as impartial contractors, these claims ask for compensation for unpaid wages and additional time, and reimbursement for bills equivalent to mileage and mobile phone utilization.
Legal professionals for the case stated in a press release that about 450 such claims had been beforehand filed with the American Arbitration Affiliation.
Drivers from California, Massachusetts and Illinois filed claims as a result of legal guidelines about worker misclassification are “very clear” in these states, legal professional Steven Tindall advised CNN. The three states additionally permit employees to file claims for expense reimbursement from employers, Tindall added.
Tindall and one other legal professional, Joseph Sellers, have been amassing claims for years, Tindall stated.
In a press release, Amazon stated Flex “provides people the chance to set their very own schedule and be their very own boss, whereas incomes aggressive pay. We hear from a lot of the Amazon Flex supply companions that they love the flexibleness of this system, and we’re happy with the work they do on behalf of consumers day by day.” On its website, Amazon says most drivers earn between $18 to $25 an hour.
Of their assertion, Tindall and Sellers stated Amazon solely pays the drivers for a pre-determined “block.” If a Flex driver books a three-hour block on the app, they solely receives a commission for 3 hours, even when deliveries are available that take extra time.
Tindall advised CNN that the employees filed impartial arbitration claims as an alternative of a category motion lawsuit as a result of drivers must signal an settlement that forbids class motion.
“Arbitration, sadly, limits the drivers’ pursuit of justice. So, we’re left with little alternative however to file nearly 16,000 particular person arbitration actions directly,” Tindall stated.
CNN’s Samantha Delouya contributed to this report.