An Amazon warehouse employee was left with few words after directly contacting Jeff Bezos regarding a pay dispute.
No matter what company or organization you work for, the first point of call when it comes to issues regarding your salary is often HR.
However, Tara Jones decided to pass by all of that and reached out to the big boss himself for answers over pay, issuing a desperate plea.
Jones was on leave for a medical reason and claimed she was suppose to receive a $540 pay check, but noticed quite a bit was missing when she opened her salary for the month.
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In total, the Amazon warehouse employee believed $90 was missing from the pay packet.
So, at this point you're probably contacting your line manager or getting HR involved, but Jones decided to go to extraordinary lengths and reach out to CEO Bezos with a strong message.
In the note seen by the New York Times, Jones stated: “I’m behind on bills, all because the pay team messed up. I’m crying as I write this email.”
Jones soon after realized she wasn’t the only member of staff who had been missing money.
Her email triggered a company-wide investigation, which found 179 other warehouse workers had been underpaid for around 18 months, according to the outlet.
One worker affected by the mistake said they had to have their car repossessed, while others claimed they were fired after the software reported their medical leave as absences.
Meanwhile, it's reported that doctors' notes were mysteriously 'vanishing' in the system.
In a statement, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told The Independent: “We’re disappointed when any of our employees experience an issue with their leave.
“The New York Times article suggested these issues are widespread and ongoing. They are not.
“We went back and audited the period in question to make sure employees received their pay, and to our knowledge, there are no outstanding issues."
The statement continued: "The controls we’ve implemented over the last 18 months have resulted in less than one percent of people experiencing an issue while being on paid leave.
“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.”
While it may be a pretty outlandish thing to do and properly isn't advised at the best of times, it certainly worked at treat for Jones.
Topics: Amazon, Jeff Bezos
Callum Jones