Amazon To Pay Flex Drivers $60 Mln Withheld As Tips, Says FTC

(RTTNews) - The Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday that more than 140,000 Amazon Inc. (AMZN) drivers will be repaid around $60 million in tips, which the company illegally held from the drivers. An agreement to the same was reached upon by the FTC with the retail giant in February to re-distribute the tips to Amazon Flex Drivers.

The FTC said that the average cheque for Amazon Flex drivers in the settlement would be $422, but the highest amount distributed to a single driver would total over $28,000. Around 19,980 drivers would get cheques for amounts more than $600, as part of the agreement. The drivers must cash in their cheques before January 7, 2022.

Amazon Flex is a part of the company's delivery operations, which uses individual drivers to deliver packages instead of company vehicles.

According to the FTC, in February, Amazon had told Flex Drivers they would earn $18 to $25 per hour, and in addition, they would keep 100 percent of the tips they earned.

The FTC said that in 2016, Amazon started paying drivers a lower hourly rate and used their tips to make up for the difference and the drivers were not made aware of the changes.

In the settlement agreed upon with the FTC, Amazon decided to give back all the money held back from the drivers. The company was not available for comment on the issue.