Amazon Overtime Lawsuits: Wage & Hour Laws

Commonly asked overtime pay law questions about Amazon:

• What Does Amazon Do?
• Who Does Amazon Employ?
• Where is Amazon Located?
• Amazon Overtime Pay Lawsuit News
• What are the Laws for Amazon Employee Overtime Pay?
• Is an Amazon Employee Entitled to Overtime Pay?
• Does Amazon Have to Pay Overtime Wages to its Employees?
• Has Amazon Been Involved in Overtime Pay Lawsuits?
• Amazon Overtime Pay Lawyer Review

What Does Amazon Do?

Amazon is an American international electronic commerce company. It is the world’s largest online retailer, and the world’s largest provider of cloud infrastructure services.

The company began in 1995 as an online bookstore, but soon diversified to sell many different electronic and household products. Amazon also produces consumer electronics, such as the Kindle e-book reader, Kindle Fire tablet, and Amazon Echo.

Who Does Amazon Employ?

As of 2017, Amazon employs 351,000 people worldwide, not including seasonal or temporary workers. Our experienced overtime pay lawyers handle cases for all Amazon employees, including the following:

• Customer service representatives
• Fulfillment warehouse workers
• Administrative support workers
• Operations management
• Salespeople
• Delivery drivers
• Human resource workers

Where is Amazon Located?

Amazon’s global corporate headquarters is located in Seattle, Washington. The company has expanded to have satellite offices throughout the United States and across the world. Some of the U.S. locations include:

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Austin, Texas
• Baltimore, Maryland
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Charleston, South Carolina
• Charlotte, North Carolina
• Chicago, Illinois
• Columbus, Ohio
• Dallas, Texas
• Detroit, Michigan
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Nashville, Tennessee
• New York, New York
• Palo Alto, California
• Phoenix, Arizona
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• San Francisco, California
• Tampa, Florida
• Washington D.C.

Amazon Overtime Pay Lawsuit News

What are the Laws for Amazon Employee Overtime Pay?

Under the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA), many Amazon employees are considered non-exempt and therefore entitled to overtime pay.

If an employee is non-exempt under the FLSA, the law requires that they are paid overtime wages of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for every hour past 40 in one week.

The FLSA has several exemptions, however, that would preclude employees from receiving overtime pay. For example, employees with “adminstrative” or “professional” roles may fall under these exemptions.

It is important to note that exemption is not determined solely based on job title. Rather, job description, job duties, rate of pay, and hours worked are used to determine if an employee should receive overtime pay.

On top of the FLSA, some states have their own overtime pay laws. These laws may complement or contradict the FLSA, so it is important to consult an experienced attorney who is familiar with all the applicable overtime pay laws.

Is an Amazon Employee Entitled to Overtime Pay?

Amazon employees are often required to work long shifts, as well as additional time before and after their scheduled shift. Some employees are also required to be “on call” over weekends and holidays. As a result, many Amazon employees end up working more than 40 hours per week, and are therefore entitled to overtime pay.

Employees who are exempt under the FLSA are not entitled to overtime pay. Whether or not an Amazon employee falls under the “administrative” or “professional” exemptions is determine based on job description, job duties, rate of pay, and number of hours worked.

Employers often deny or unlawfully refuse to pay overtime by misclassifying the positions of the workers, claiming that they are exempt when, in reality, they are not. For example, Amazon delivery drivers could be misclassified as independent contractors, which could prevent them from receiving the overtime wages to which they are entitled.

Amazon may also require their employees to report to work early but not “punch the clock” until later or strike hours off of time cards, or they may refuse to pay employees for work done before the shift starts and after they punch out for the day. These are violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and can give rise to an overtime pay lawsuit.

An experienced overtime pay attorney will be able to analyze your case in the context of the FLSA and your state’s laws to determine if you are due overtime wages from Amazon.

Does Amazon Have to Pay Overtime Wages to its Employees?

In many cases Amazon is required to pay overtime wages to employees that work more than 40 hours in one week. This excludes employees who are considered exempt under the FLSA.

Exemption is not cut and dry; the FLSA is a complicated law and state laws can complicate the picture even further.

If you believe that Amazon owes you overtime pay, it is best to consult an attorney who has experience with the FLSA and state overtime wage laws.

To determine whether you are eligible for filing a wage claim, contact our experienced Amazon Overtime Pay Lawyers at (855) 754-2795 for a Free Consultation to discuss your case or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review Form on this page.  We will discuss your situation and determine if you have a claim. If you are owed unpaid wages, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise, which means there are never any legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.

Has Amazon Been Involved in Overtime Pay Lawsuits?

Over the past several years, current or former Amazon employees have brought a number of lawsuits against the company in an effort to reclaim lost overtime wages. Here are a few examples of such lawsuits:

• A former warehouse manager working for Amazon in the San Francisco Bay area recently filed a class action unpaid overtime lawsuit against the online retail giant over allegations that the defendant failed to pay proper wages, including overtime, to supervisors at distribution facilities. The claim alleges that Amazon intentionally misclassified warehouse supervisors as overtime exempt managers but forced employees to work long hours performing manual labor and other unacceptable job duties under California labor and wage laws.
• A group of delivery drivers contracted to work for Amazon recently filed suit against the online retail giant claiming the defendant should be considered a joint employer and therefore responsible for paying out overtime wages and other benefits. According to their complaint, the plaintiffs allege that Amazon should be considered a joint employer along with Silverstar, the company Amazon contracts with to fulfill deliveries, since the defendant oversaw and had a hand in many aspects of the contractor’s work habits.
• Amazon warehouse workers in Kentucky allege they are owed for hundreds of thousands of unpaid hours for the time spent passing through security screenings everyday to leave work. While Amazon claims the time spend is minimal and non-intrusive, the workers maintain that over the course of weeks, months, and years the time adds up to significant wages.
• In Phoenix, four former delivery workers for Courier Logistics Services LLC, which operated an exclusive delivery contract with Amazon for its same-day service, filed suit against Courier Logistics and Amazon for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The suit alleged that they have been illegally denied overtime wages under FLSA and were not given the full amount of tips they should have received from delivery customers.

Amazon Overtime Pay Lawyer Review