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World’s richest man pleads for someone else to pay his workers.
Amazon asks for donations during booming sales to pay staff sick leave
I think it’s safe to assume that no business in the world has been totally unaffected by the spread of the coronavirus, and there have been a myriad of responses ranging from inspiring to downright disgraceful. One decision that sits towards the latter end of that spectrum seems to have come from Amazon – one of the few online marketplaces that has seen a considerable uptick in sales following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and which in 2019 recorded US$11.9 billion in annual profit.
After announcing it would be hiring 100,000 workers to meet the new demand, Amazon explained that its army of contract workers would not receive paid sick leave, but were instead able to apply for a salary grant for any coronavirus related sick days through a newly established Amazon Relief Fund. The global online marketplace did contribute US$25 million dollars to form the basis of the fund, however the company is expecting someone else to foot the bill if it turns out to cost more. According to a Popular Information investigation, Amazon began appealing for public donations to bolster the COVID-19 kitty, including links distributed via text message to contribute via credit card, PayPal or through direct payroll deductions for current employees.
Amazon did announce that it’ll provide up to two weeks of paid sick leave for any of its full time employees who contract the virus (which is not mandatory in many US states), but it doesn’t change the sentiment that one of the world’s most profitable companies is pleading for crowdsourcing dollars from people doing it tough to pay its contract employees sick leave.
Amazon is engaged with around 800 third party companies that make up a delivery driver workforce of around 75,000 and at least 150 delivery stations employing another 90,000 workers. While not all of these companies will be able to access the relief fund, Amazon has provided enough capital for somewhere between 5,000 and 62,500 of these employees to get compensation. While this might seem reasonable, it only provides the minimum US$400 payment for up to 38% of the contract workforce, a seemingly low proportion seeing as drivers are some of the only people required to move around and interact with others during the partial lockdown conditions.
Based on the minimum wage for delivery drivers, the fund could afford to pay the wages of up to 12.5% of minimum wage contract workers for two weeks sick leave, before it then runs out.
Amazon employees had tested positive for COVID-19 in at least 10 fulfilment or returns facilities at the time of writing and the US took the lead in coronavirus cases worldwide late in March, so there’s every possibility that contract workers could drain the Amazon Relief Fund well before the demand runs out.