Amazon Independent Contractors Seek Employee Status, Overtime Pay

Recently, online sales giant Amazon was sued by delivery drivers in Illinois who claim that the company misclassified them as Amazon independent contractors rather than employees.

The issue in question is that the drivers claim they were not paid overtime by Amazon for hauling goods.

If they were correctly classified as independent contractors, they would not need to be paid overtime.

However, the drivers claim that the responsibilities they performed classified them as employees of Amazon.

Plaintiff Theron Bradley, a former employee of Amazon contractor Silverstar, said, “Amazon controls everything, without a shadow of a doubt … Silverstar pays me, but I definitely know I work for Amazon.”

Bradley is one of the named plaintiffs in the wage and hour class action lawsuit. He is suing not only Silverstar but Amazon.com as well.

In his complaint, Bradley says that both Amazon and Silverstar were both directly involved with his day to day work so they should be named as “joint employers.” B

ecause of this, they are both liable for the violations regarding Amazon independent contractors under both federal and state law.

Company Denies Claims of Amazon Independent Contractors

Amazon does not agree. They believe that the drivers should be labeled as Amazon independent contractors and not employees.

Amazon stated in an email, “The small and medium-sized businesses that partner with Amazon logistics have their own employees and are required to abide by applicable laws and Amazon’s Supplier Code of Conduct.”

They also said, “We investigate any claim that a provider isn’t complying with these obligations.”

Labor advocates disagree. They believe that Amazon is more than simply a consumer of services by so-called Amazon independent contractors.

An attorney for the delivery drivers notes that his clients wore Amazon logo uniforms and received their training and daily assignments from Amazon personnel.

Problems encountered in the course of delivery were not addressed by Silverstar but were taken directly to Amazon.

It isn’t just employers like Amazon that are under fire for wage and hour violations. Across industries, restaurant chains like McDonalds and ride-share companies like Uber have been the subject of similar lawsuits.

In fact, as recently as last month McDonald’s Corp. agreed to a $3.75 million wage and hour settlement with workers at several franchised restaurants that sued both the franchisee and McDonald’s Corp. as joint employers.

David Weil of the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division wrote in January, “More and more, businesses are varying organizational and staffing models… As a result, the traditional employment relationship of one employer employing one employee is less prevalent.”

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees enjoy protections for fair wages and proper compensation for all hours worked. This comes into question when a company and employee disagree about the classification of a worker.

If the Amazon drivers were indeed independent contractors, they would not be eligible for overtime. However, if it is determined that the drivers were actual employees, Amazon would be on the hook to pay them overtime.

According to an overview of the FLSA by the U.S. Department of Labor:

“Unless exempt, employees covered by the Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay. There is no limit in the Act on the number of hours employees aged 16 and older may work in any workweek. The Act does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime is worked on such days.”

The Amazon Delivery Driver Misclassification Class Action Lawsuit is Theron Bradley et al. v. Silverstar Ltd. et al., Case No. 1:16-cv-10259, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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