Amazon To Pay $61.7 Million To Settle FTC Charges It Withheld Some Customer Tips from Amazon Flex Drivers

Amazon.com has agreed to pay more than $61.7 million to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission, which alleges the ecommerce giant failed to pay Amazon Flex drivers the full amount of tips received over a 2 1/2-year period. FTC: According to the FTC's administrative complaint against Amazon and its subsidiary, Amazon Logistics, the company regularly advertised that drivers participating in the Flex program would be paid $18-25 per hour for their work making deliveries to customers. The ads, along with numerous other documents provided to Flex drivers, also prominently featured statements such as: 'You will receive 100% of the tips you earn while delivering with Amazon Flex.' 'Rather than passing along 100 percent of customers' tips to drivers, as it had promised to do, Amazon used the money itself,' said Daniel Kaufman, Acting Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. 'Our action today returns to drivers the tens of millions of dollars in tips that Amazon misappropriated, and requires Amazon to get drivers' permission before changing its treatment of tips in the future.' Amazon Flex is a program in which drivers, classified by Amazon as independent contractors, can agree to make deliveries using their personal vehicles. Flex drivers deliver goods and groceries ordered through the Prime Now and AmazonFresh programs, which allow customers to give the drivers a tip.

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