In 2020, an Amazon employee emailed Jeff Bezos explaining she’d been underpaid while on medical leave. Her initiative sent the company on a venture to right the wrong and sparked an internal investigation. However, she’s not the only employee to be wrongfully let go or underpaid.
Short-Changing Amazon Employees
In 2020, a new mother, Tara Jones, directly reached out to Jeff Bezos in an email pleading with him after the Amazon employee was shorted $90 on her $540 check. “I’m behind on bills, all because the pay team messed up.” She wrote. “I’m crying as I write this email.”
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An Amazon Employee’s Desperate Plea
Tara was home on maternity leave with a brand-new baby. While many might find it surprising, Jeff Bezos took her email to heart, calling for an internal investigation. Sadly, the investigation revealed numerous mishappenings, at the cost of Amazon employees everywhere. Purportedly, the investigation found as many as 179 warehouses had been affected by a system error, meaning numerous Amazon employees were wrongfully terminated or underpaid.
Impacting Numerous Amazon Employees
The Amazon employees affected the most were those on disability or medical leave. Moreover, this error took place over the course of a year and a half, costing Amazon employees severely. For example, another James Watts was unable to cover their medical bills and food, they lost their car and resorted to selling wedding rings to recover from the system error.
Meanwhile, other Amazon employees were fired because the system documented them as no-shows, rather than out on leave. Moreover, despite manager complaints, no changes were made.
The New Times Reports
The Times interviewed Amazon employees at the time, catching a peek at internal documents, which confirmed reports made by Amazon employees. Furthermore, the Times spoke with a representative for Amazon who explained that it took the company a while to sort through and identify which Amazon employees had been impacted.
Representative Comments
“We’re disappointed when any of our employees experience an issue with their leave. The controls we’ve implemented over the last 18 months have resulted in less than 1% of people experiencing an issue while being on paid leave.” They said in a statement. “Certainly, the unprecedented nature of Covid did put a strain on our system’s ability to keep pace with demand and we’ve been hard at work investing and inventing to do better every day.”
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Fixing the Mess
Bethany Reyes, an Amazon employee in HR was tasked with “fixing the company’s system.” She explained that Amazon would “rebalance its mantra.”
“A lot of times, because we’ve optimized for the customer experience, we’ve been focused on that,” she said, adding that the company was addressing “pain points” and “pay issues.” Furthermore, she noted that an automatic firing was “the most dire issue that you could have.”
The Internet Comments
Bezos is no longer the CEO but is still the company chair. However, Jeff has been condemned for his poor treatment of Amazon employees, of which there are over 1 million. Unsurprisingly, several internet users weighed in expressing their dissatisfaction for how the company treats Amazon employees. “This is inexcusable.” Stated one user, matter-of-a-factly. “But Jeff is busy in space tourism ignoring the problems on Earth.” Wrote another.
“Seriously, wowww come on back to Earth Jeff…” A third sarcastically added. Meanwhile, a fourth shared a personal tidbit about someone they know. “I know someone fired from a job she loved because Amazon’s software registered ‘no show’ or ‘lateness’ in the 2 weeks after she had an abortion and unexpected problems. Her manager’s protests were ignored by the Amazon machine.” They wrote.
In Conclusion
The company announced its aim toward being the “Earth’s best employer” following the investigation. Although it’s unclear whether or not it’s become a desirable work-place, the company’s humble beginnings are far in the past and Amazon is one of the largest companies worldwide. Additionally, Amazon Employees are integral to the success of the company. Either way, one desperate mom’s plea seemingly launched a life-changing event for numerous workers at her company.