Amazon is a billion-dollar company that employs millions of Americans and keeps recruiting employees all year round. Because they have many orders to process daily, there is an Amazon mandatory extra time policy for full-time employees.
Here’s all you need to know about the pay and rules for Amazon mandatory overtime.
Amazon Overtime Pay
Amazon expects its full-time employees to be available for at least one overtime shift a week. While salary staff is not qualified to obtain surplus pay for working overtime, Amazon pays 1.5x to hourly-paid employees when they work more than 40 hours a week.
The maximum number of overtime hours Amazon employees are permitted to schedule in a week is 20, and they must be on-call within the required hours. Want to know more about Amazon overtime rules and their MET Policy? This article explains it all.
How Does Mandatory Overtime Work At Amazon?
Many companies expect mandatory overtime hours from their staff, and so does Amazon.
Amazon staff employed full-time are not expected to work more than 20 hours of overtime a week.
Full-time Amazon employees can work up to 60 hours weekly when the company needs more hands. The mandatory overtime policy may differ depending on the Amazon fulfillment warehouse or department, and employees in some units are obliged to work more hours than others.
For example, staff who work in Amazon fulfillment warehouses are required to work their regular daily hours apart from the 10–20 overtime hours, while Amazon Fresh staff are allowed to set flexible schedules.
Amazon MET Policy
Amazon employs a rigid, mandatory extra time policy that demands staff be on-call for at least one overtime shift a week. Amazon introduced the policy in 2016, and the corporate world received it with mixed opinions.
Based on the regulations, hourly workers will earn time and a half pay for overtime. Regular salary staff, on the other hand, are not eligible to receive additional payment for working overtime.
Amazon’s MET policy also states that employees are not permitted to work more than 20 hours of overtime per week or more than 60 hours per week of both overtime and regularly scheduled shifts.
Can Amazon Force You to Work Overtime?
Overtime hours for Amazon staff are compulsory. Full-time employees must be on-call in the week leading up to peak season and Amazon Prime Day.
Subject to the federal overtime law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 201 and following), employers are required to pay staff time and half of the employee’s regular pay rate for any hours over 40 worked weekly.
Failing to show up for your mandatory extra time may result in severe repercussions, as Amazon doesn’t take too kindly to staff missing scheduled overtime.
How To Get Out of Mandatory Overtime Amazon
Overtime is usually included in Amazon staff schedules weeks in advance. Although, in some cases, managers can add overtime hours to one’s schedule at the last minute.
Amazon can schedule overtime to dispense last-minute orders as late as the evening before an employee starts their shift. Amazon is known for its rigid policy regarding mandatory overtime. However, the company generally exempts staff who are also full-time students.
So, while employees who are full-time students may be able to get out of mandatory overtime at Amazon, employees who are parents cannot be exempt from mandatory overtime. This is because parental commitments are not considered an acceptable reason to avoid overtime.
So, Amazon employees with parental obligations should always be prepared for last-minute mandatory extra time in their schedule.
In events where you have a prior engagement and cannot work overtime, it is important to inform your supervisor as soon as possible to appoint someone else. Individual supervisors may be more lenient regarding overtime hours than others.
How Often Does Amazon Have Mandatory Overtime?
Usually, there’s an upswing in demand during peak seasons, such as Amazon Prime Day, and other notable business seasons like Black Friday. There’s also increased demand during the holiday season.
Amazon expects mandatory overtime from employees in the week leading up to Prime Day and on Prime Day itself. During the week of Prime Day, full-time staff must work 50–60 hours a week with an additional hour or two a day.
It is also common for employees to have weeks of mandatory overtime during the peak season. Peak season often begins towards the end of the year, starting before Thanksgiving, running up to Christmas and the beginning of January.
Employees who work hourly during these periods are compensated with time and a half pay and other employment bonuses.
Amazon Overtime Rules
The overtime rules require full-time staff to work mandatory extra time. However, part-time or reduced-time employees do not have to work extra time beyond their slated shifts. These employees can opt for Voluntary Extra Time (VET) if they want to work more hours.
It is essential to understand the difference between mandatory overtime and VET. While mandatory overtime is expected of full-time staff, especially during peak season, VET allows part-time or reduced-time workers to schedule extra hours outside of their regular shifts.
While overtime hours are mandatory for full-time staff, Amazon’s part-time staff’s choice to work overtime is optional. Part-time staff may schedule as many overtime hours as they wish to receive extra pay.
So, staff can work extra time and earn their regular pay per hour for overtime. However, you should remember that Amazon will deny your request if you attempt to schedule overtime exceeding 60 hours weekly.
Conclusion
Amazon full-time staff are obligated to work overtime hours. However, mandatory overtime hours are not expected of part-time or reduced-time workers. Employees paid hourly will receive time and a half pay for overtime hours. On the other hand, the salaried staff is not eligible for extra compensation.
