Wisconsin’s Supreme Court just let a ruling stand that classifies some Amazon drivers as direct employees, rather than independent contractors. “Wait,” you might say, “Amazon drivers aren’t employees?”
Here’s Five Fast Facts About Amazon Drivers:
- 🚚 Human Beings - The ruling applies to drivers in the Amazon Flex program. Those drivers were previously considered independent contractors and not eligible for benefits. Ouch…
- 🧾 Beneficial - The drivers are now part of the state’s unemployment insurance system. As a result, they’re entitled to unemployment pay if they’re laid off. Amazon Logistics will be hit with a $200,000 tax bill. Jeff Bezos doesn’t even get out of bed for that.
- ⚖️ Duh - Apparently this ruling was such a no-brainer that the state Supreme Court was all “Why are we even talking about this?” The ruling leaves a lower court’s decision in place.
- 📦 Victory - Labor Unions are celebrating the decision as a win for all gig economy workers, as they’re considered “independent contractors,” denying them any sort of benefits.
- 💵 Confused? - Amazon said they are disappointed that the court didn’t provide any guidance for the next steps in the process. They’re pretty much pretending like they don’t know how to run a business, but they’ll figure it out.
🔥Bottom line: Score one for Wisconsin’s workers, right? Amazon has notoriously treated its workforce in questionable ways for many years. This may be the start of a massive change within the company (at least in WI).
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