Amazon is ending its pandemic pay raise for Canadian employees this weekend

May 29 2020, 1:50 pm

Amazon will be ending its COVID-19-related pay incentives and raises for Canadian warehouse workers this weekend.

The retail giant had been paying Canadian and American employees an extra $2 per hour to the company’s existing $15 minimum wage. In March, the company also announced double-overtime incentives for its warehouse staffers.

The pay increase and incentives were originally supposed to end in April, but Amazon extended the aid through to the last day of May, according to a May 13 company update.

At the start of the pandemic, Amazon had been criticized by its North American employees for allegedly not doing their part to make sure warehouse workers were properly protected.

The company says it has paid “more than $800 million in the first half of the year on COVID‑19 safety measures.” Staff members who were diagnosed with coronavirus or had been presumptively positive were given two weeks of paid leave.

Amazon says it has hired over 5,765 new janitorial staff members throughout the US and Canada and gave employees the opportunity to log out to wash their hands whenever they choose, in addition to break times.

The $2 pay raise and incentives will expire at the end of the day on Sunday.

Ty JadahTy Jadah

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