[US] Huge payroll issues uncovered by Amazon worker’s email to Bezos

An internal investigation that exposed flaws with Amazon's payroll system was triggered by an email sent to Jeff Bezos from a worker who was on leave, Business Insider reports.

According to reporting from The New York Times, Tara Jones - an Oklahoma Amazon warehouse worker - emailed Mr Bezos in 2020 to tell him she was being underpaid $90 of $540 she was supposed to receive each month. She reportedly had a newborn baby at the time.

"I'm behind on bills, all because the pay team messed up," Jones wrote in her email. She added, "I'm crying as I write this email," according to the report.

The New York Times interviewed Amazon staff and reviewed internal documents. Their findings revealed that Amazon subsequently discovered it was shortchanging some employees who were on leave; including people on medical and disability leave. The errors had occurred over at least a year and a half and had potentially affected as many as 179 warehouses.

Speaking to The Times, an Amazon spokesperson said that the company was still in the process of identifying workers it had underpaid.

James Watts - a warehouse worker from Tennessee - told The Times that his disability payments stopped for several months in the spring. Mr Watts told The Times his car had been repossessed and that he and his wife had sold their wedding rings.

Current and former HR employees also told The Times that workers facing medical problems were automatically fired by Amazon's attendance software after it mistook their leave for absence.

Bethany Reyes - an Amazon HR employee who has recently been tasked with fixing the company's leave system - told The Times that the company was trying to rebalance its mantra of "optimizing" for the customer.

"A lot of times, because we've optimized for the customer experience, we've been focused on that," Ms Reyes said. She added that Amazon was working to address "pain points" and "pay issues." She also said the automatic firings were "the most dire issue that you could have."

Amazon did not immediately respond to Insider when contacted for comment on the report.

In a letter to shareholders last year, Bezos boasted that the lowest-paid Amazon worker made more than 40 million people in the US. Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon on July 5 and was replaced by Andy Jassy, a longtime executive. Mr Bezos is still the chair of the company. 

An internal investigation that exposed flaws with Amazon's payroll system was triggered by an email sent to Jeff Bezos from a worker who was on leave, Business Insider reports.

According to reporting from The New York Times, Tara Jones - an Oklahoma Amazon warehouse worker - emailed Mr Bezos in 2020 to tell him she was being underpaid $90 of $540 she was supposed to receive each month. She reportedly had a newborn baby at the time.

"I'm behind on bills, all because the pay team messed up," Jones wrote in her email. She added, "I'm crying as I write this email," according to the report.

The New York Times interviewed Amazon staff and reviewed internal documents. Their findings revealed that Amazon subsequently discovered it was shortchanging some employees who were on leave; including people on medical and disability leave. The errors had occurred over at least a year and a half and had potentially affected as many as 179 warehouses.

Speaking to The Times, an Amazon spokesperson said that the company was still in the process of identifying workers it had underpaid.

James Watts - a warehouse worker from Tennessee - told The Times that his disability payments stopped for several months in the spring. Mr Watts told The Times his car had been repossessed and that he and his wife had sold their wedding rings.

Current and former HR employees also told The Times that workers facing medical problems were automatically fired by Amazon's attendance software after it mistook their leave for absence.

Bethany Reyes - an Amazon HR employee who has recently been tasked with fixing the company's leave system - told The Times that the company was trying to rebalance its mantra of "optimizing" for the customer.

"A lot of times, because we've optimized for the customer experience, we've been focused on that," Ms Reyes said. She added that Amazon was working to address "pain points" and "pay issues." She also said the automatic firings were "the most dire issue that you could have."

Amazon did not immediately respond to Insider when contacted for comment on the report.

In a letter to shareholders last year, Bezos boasted that the lowest-paid Amazon worker made more than 40 million people in the US. Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon on July 5 and was replaced by Andy Jassy, a longtime executive. Mr Bezos is still the chair of the company.