Amazon hourly employees have been the beneficiaries of a long run of settlements over missed breaks, unpaid screening time, withheld tips, retaliation for striking, and workplace safety. The most recent one open for automatic payment is a $2 million deal covering Washington state workers at Amazon Retail, Amazon Go, and Amazon Fresh locations. Older settlements in Oregon, Kentucky, and with Amazon Flex drivers have already paid out, while several new cases in California, New York, Washington, and New Jersey are still working through the courts.
The Washington Meal and Rest Break Settlement You May Still Be Eligible For
The active settlement is Garner v. Amazon Retail LLC, Case No. 24-2-11344-0, in Pierce County Superior Court. Amazon agreed to pay $2 million to resolve claims that it failed to provide legally required meal and rest breaks to hourly workers and did not pay all wages owed as a result. Amazon did not admit wrongdoing.1Top Class Actions. 2M Amazon Unpaid Wages Class Action Settlement
You qualify if you worked for Amazon Retail LLC, including at Amazon Go or Amazon Fresh locations, in a paid hourly position in Washington between October 3, 2021, and October 27, 2025.2ClaimDepot. ARLLC Wage Settlement
No claim form is required. If you don’t opt out, you’ll automatically receive a pro rata cash payment of at least $50, with higher amounts for workers who earned more during the class period. The opt-out deadline is June 22, 2026. A final approval hearing is set for July 17, 2026. The settlement administrator is Simpluris, reachable at info@arllcWageSettlement.com or 888-428-6671.2ClaimDepot. ARLLC Wage Settlement
The Closed Oregon Warehouse Settlement
A larger settlement covering Oregon warehouse workers is now closed to new claims, but it’s the recent benchmark for what these cases look like. In Swearingen v. Amazon.com Services Inc., Case No. 3:19-CV-01156-JR, workers alleged that Amazon’s time-clock rounding shaved hours from paychecks and that the company failed to pay employees whose breaks ran shorter than the required 30 minutes. Clocking in a few minutes early produced no extra pay; clocking in late produced discipline.3Willamette Week. Amazon Settles Oregon Wage Theft Lawsuit
A federal judge approved an $18 million settlement in September 2022, covering more than 10,000 current and former employees at Oregon facilities who worked between December 2012 and April 2019. Class members received roughly $100 in back pay automatically, with an additional $1,200 in penalties available to those who filed claims. The claims deadline passed in January 2023.4Top Class Actions. Oregon Amazon Employees Wage and Hour 18M Class Action Settlement
Pay for Time in Security Screenings
Whether Amazon must pay warehouse workers for time spent in mandatory anti-theft screenings at the end of a shift has been fought for more than a decade. Workers have described waits of up to 25 or 30 minutes to pass metal detectors and bag checks before leaving.
Federal law does not require that pay. In Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. v. Busk (574 U.S. 27), a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held in December 2014 that post-shift screening time is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act because screenings are not “integral and indispensable” to the workers’ primary duties.5OSHA. No Pay for Security Checks Supreme Court
State laws have been a different story. A consolidated Washington case, Mina v. Amazon.com, reached a confidential settlement in November 2018 for workers at the Bellevue and Sumner facilities who said mandatory screenings before lunch and at the end of shifts cut into their paid time.6Thierman Buck. Mina v. Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh, AF Operations In New Jersey, a federal court ruled in 2020 that post-shift screening time was compensable under state wage law. A separate multi-district litigation in the Western District of Kentucky, In re: Amazon.com, Inc., Fulfillment Center FLSA and Wage and Hour Litigation (No. 3:14-md-2504), settled for $3.77 million, paying warehouse workers $20 to $30 per shift worked.7New Jersey Employment Lawyers Blog. Amazon Must Defend Itself Against Allegations of Wage and Hour Laws Violations
The most recent development came from Connecticut. In Del Rio v. Amazon.com Services, Inc. (354 Conn. 151), the state Supreme Court ruled on February 10, 2026, that Connecticut wage law requires pay for time spent in mandatory on-premises security screenings, and rejected any “de minimis” exception: if a worker performs compensable work of any length, they must be paid for it.8Robinson & Cole. Legal Update Minutes Matter Connecticut Supreme Court Requires Pay for Post-Shift Security Screenings The ruling could expose Amazon to additional liability for screenings at Connecticut fulfillment centers between 2018 and 2020, when the practice was discontinued during the pandemic.9Connecticut Judicial Branch. Del Rio v. Amazon.com Services, Inc.
Amazon Flex Driver Tips: The FTC Refunds
Amazon’s delivery drivers were the subject of one of the largest wage-related refund programs in FTC history. In February 2021, Amazon agreed to a $61.7 million settlement after the FTC found that starting in late 2016, the company used customer tips meant for Flex drivers to cover its base pay obligations instead of passing them through as promised. The FTC alleged Amazon “intentionally failed to notify drivers” and “took steps to make the changes obscure.”10Workplace Fairness. Amazon To Pay Huge Settlement in Wage Theft Case
The first round of refunds, totaling more than $58.5 million, went out in November 2021. In May 2025, the FTC sent a second round of 19,478 checks worth over $2.3 million to drivers who had at least $600 in withheld tips and had cashed the first payment.11FTC. Refunds Amazon Flex Drivers
Flex Driver Misclassification Fights Are Still Open
Flex drivers who use their own vehicles to deliver packages are also fighting over whether they should be treated as employees rather than independent contractors, which would entitle them to minimum wage, overtime, and expense reimbursement.
Because Amazon’s terms of service bar class actions and require individual arbitration, attorneys have brought the fight through mass arbitration instead. As of mid-2024, more than 32,000 individual claims had been filed with the American Arbitration Association by drivers in California, Illinois, and Massachusetts.12Cohen Milstein. Amazon Flex Drivers In early test cases, drivers won eight of nine proceedings, with arbitrators awarding an average of $9,000 per driver. One driver received $22,000, another $16,000 in back pay and expenses.13SF Examiner. 1700 Local Amazon Workers Join Mass Arbitration Action
On the government side, the New Jersey Attorney General and Department of Labor sued Amazon in October 2025, alleging Flex drivers in the state are misclassified and that Amazon fails the state’s ABC Test for independent contractor status. The state is seeking back wages, fines, and penalties.14New Jersey Department of Labor. Amazon Flex Driver Lawsuit
The California New-Hire Pay Case
A California court certified a class in Martinho v. Amazon.com in September 2025. The suit alleges Amazon should have paid warehouse workers for time at mandatory “new hire events,” including badge photography and welcome presentations. The judge ruled those activities directly benefit Amazon and are compensable under California labor law. Claims tied to drug testing and background checks were dismissed as part of the application process.15HR Dive. Pay New Hires Training Orientation The certified class includes all people who applied for and received a nonexempt position at a California Amazon warehouse and attended an in-person or hybrid new hire event from July 2018 to the present. No payout has been ordered yet.
The OSHA Ergonomics Settlement
Not every recent settlement puts money in workers’ pockets. In December 2024, Amazon settled OSHA citations at ten warehouses over ergonomic hazards linked to musculoskeletal injuries tied to pace, required body movements, and item weights.16New York Times. Amazon Settlement OSHA Amazon paid a $145,000 fine tied to a single Illinois warehouse; citations for the other nine locations were withdrawn. The bigger piece is operational: Amazon must run an ergonomics program at every fulfillment center, sortation center, and delivery station under federal OSHA jurisdiction. Each facility needs a trained Site Ergonomics Lead, annual risk assessments, an anonymous reporting channel, and engineering fixes such as adjustable-height workstations and redesigned packing stations.17OSHA. OSHA National News Release The agreement runs two years, and OSHA can conduct monitoring inspections at previously cited sites.18OSHA. OSHA Amazon Ergonomics Agreement
Disability Accommodation Class Actions
Two active class actions accuse Amazon of using automated HR systems to shortchange workers with disabilities. In Lyster v. Amazon.com Services, LLC (1:25-cv-09423), filed in November 2025 in the Southern District of New York, the plaintiff alleges Amazon uses its automated Unpaid Time Off system to dock hours for legally protected absences, pushes workers onto unpaid leave rather than granting reasonable accommodations, and threatens termination for absences caused by its own failure to accommodate.19A Better Balance. Amazon Workers File Class Action A separate case filed in October 2025 in the Western District of Washington by nine current and former employees alleges the “A to Z” app uses AI to deny medical accommodations and that internal messages about disability rights have been deleted. Amazon has called those allegations “fundamentally flawed.”20Yahoo Finance. Amazon Workers With Disabilities File Suit Against Tech Giant Neither case has produced a settlement.
Strike Retaliation and the Right to Organize
In March 2026, Amazon settled NLRB charges that it retaliated against workers who took part in strikes. The Teamsters had filed the charges after Amazon deducted Unpaid Time Off hours from striking workers, a practice the NLRB determined could lead to termination and was therefore unlawful retaliation. Under the settlement, Amazon restored docked UPT for more than 100 employees and agreed to post a notice at all 1,300 U.S. facilities informing workers of their right to organize and strike without retaliation. Amazon did not admit wrongdoing.21CNBC. Amazon Settles Teamsters Warehouse Strike The agreement followed a December 2024 action in which Teamsters picketed more than 200 Amazon facilities across over 20 states.22Teamsters. Teamsters Union Forces Amazon To Honor Right To Strike
On April 1, 2026, the NLRB ordered Amazon to bargain with the Amazon Labor Union, which won a representation election at the JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island in April 2022. The Board granted summary judgment, finding Amazon’s refusal to recognize the union was unlawful.23SHRM. NLRB Orders Amazon To Bargain Despite Company Objections Amazon is widely expected to appeal.24NLRB Edge. NLRB Orders Amazon To Bargain
What to Do If You Think You’re Owed Money
If you worked hourly for Amazon Retail, Amazon Go, or Amazon Fresh in Washington between October 3, 2021, and October 27, 2025, you don’t need to do anything to receive your Garner payment, but you can contact the settlement administrator at 888-428-6671 to confirm your address is current. If you’re a Flex driver who received a first FTC refund check and had at least $600 in tips withheld, watch for a second-round check from the FTC’s 2025 mailing. If you attended an in-person or hybrid new-hire event at a California Amazon warehouse from July 2018 onward, the Martinho class has been certified and further notice is likely as the case advances. For the older Oregon and Kentucky screening settlements, the claim windows have closed.