Does Amazon Give Raises? (Something You Might Be Interested In)

Given the competitive beginning salary and comprehensive benefits package you get as a new employee, working for Amazon is widely regarded as a respectable career option. In recent years, however, a small but vocal group of Amazon workers has sought to unionize in pursuit of higher wages. Do raises exist at Amazon, then? Find out by reading on.

In recent years, Amazon has been the center of attention due to allegations of providing its employees with unfavorable and dangerous working conditions. Another common complaint among employees is the low pay rise given, considering the amount of back-breaking work that warehouse employees do. It should also be noted that Amazon actually offers a fair starting salary—more than double the federal minimum age.

In 2021, however, Amazon spent more than $4.3 million on anti-union consultants alone. Many would argue that the funds would be better served by increasing the worker's salary; Amazon agrees—the e-commerce giant has chosen to raise hourly wages by about $1. Curious to learn more about the new pay rise? This post is for you.

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Does Amazon Give Raises?

It is true that Amazon rewards its employees with raises, and some of these are really impressive. Amazon has long been using a twice-a-year system of deciding terms for raises. This system works by establishing terms at the beginning of the year and then reassessing and adjusting those terms six months later. However, due to a large number of employees, not all departments are included in these updates.

This means that Amazon takes the well-being of its workforce seriously. Initially, workers get an extra 50 cents per hour. However, those who have served for a while are entitled to a significant $3 raise from their past rate!

All You Need to Know about Amazon’s New Pay Rise

Amazon has dedicated about $1 billion over the next year to increase the average pay rate of warehouse and transportation workers from $18 to about $19. Amazon has also made Anytime Pay more accessible to its employees. Through Anytime Pay, qualifying Amazon employees can withdraw up to 70% of their earned pay at any time.

The Amazon Intelligence Initiative is just one example of how the corporation has increased its employee training and development funding. This 12 to 14-month training program aims to prepare participants for careers as engineers working with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon has been under a lot of pressure from employees who have chosen to unionize.

Early this year, warehouse associates at the JFK8 warehouse voted to unionize. As a result of their success, Amazon workers in other facilities all the way from Albany to South California have decided to launch their own union initiatives. Employees who have chosen to unionize have raised several concerns, among them being: illegal intimidation tactics, poor COVID-19 working conditions, and most predominantly, the issue of low pay.

It should be noted that not all workers are happy with the $1 pay increase. Inland Empire Amazon Workers, a group of employees at Amazon, have chosen to walk out of their jobs, demanding better pay and working conditions. In a tweet, the group expressed dissatisfaction with the $1 pay increase Amazon offered all employees.

The group demanded that the bare minimum they would accept was a $5 pay increase. In a statement in response to the demands, John Felton (Amazon’s Senior Vice President) conquered that by investing in better pay and providing easy access to pay (Via Amazon Anytime Pay) are fundamental elements in ensuring the company is indeed one of the best employers in the world.

The pay changes were to take effect at the beginning of October; it is, therefore, only a matter of time before we see if Amazon will make more changes to its payment structure or not.

Changes Made to Amazon Anytime Pay

The ability to get paid at your convenience is only one of many perks of working with Amazon. With the Anytime Pay option, you get access to payment in advance, anytime you choose. Employees must load their wages in advance onto a Wisely Pay Visa debit card to use Anytime Pay. The money can then be used at any merchant accepting Visa payments.

Alternatively, the employee can withdraw money at select ATMs. Initially, employees could only obtain a maximum of 50% of their paychecks in advance. Additionally, the Anytime option was limited to a select number of jobs.

However, starting in October, Amazon has made changes to its Anytime Pay feature. Amazon has made the service accessible to more employees than before, enabling them to cash out up to 70% of their salary. This is a huge improvement to the initial 50%, which was insufficient for most Amazon employees using the option.

In many ways, the new policy is good for all of the staff. For instance, when an individual lives paycheque to paycheque, he or she may easily manage unforeseen costs. Moreover, most Amazon warehouse workers still don't make enough money to have enough emergency reserves, despite the company's advocacy for a decent minimum wage.

Is Amazon Anytime Pay Regulated?

If it is your first time hearing about Amazon Anytime Pay, you may confuse it for a loan—if anything, you are getting money that you have to pay back later. So is Amazon Anytime Pay a loan, and does it pose a risk to the user? Let’s find out. Due to a CFPB opinion made in the Trump era, Anytime Pay is not regarded as a loan. This is because eaned-wage access providers are exempted if they meet certain criteria.

For Anytime Pay, it's because there is no fee charged. Wisely claims that because the service is free, it is exempt from the regulatory disclosures that are necessary for credit cards or payday loans. Still, there's more to the tale than this.

According to Wisley’s terms and conditions, some operational fees are charged for the card. For instance, you will be charged $5.95 if you are to load an additional $20 to $500 out of your account to your card. Users are then sent to their accounts, where they may view a complete breakdown of all additional charges.

Bottom Line

Due to the rising pressure caused by unionizing groups of Amazon employees, Amazon has raised hourly rates by $1. Amazon has also made Anytime Pay more accessible to its employees, allowing them to cash out up to 70% of their pay in advance.

Most employees, particularly those in the Inland Empire Amazon Workers United, are not satisfied with the new $1 pay rise, and they are demanding a better pay rise of $5. The new pay structure has already taken effect as of October, and it is just a matter of time before we see how Amazon will respond to the new demands.