Amazon Flex Settlement: Who Got Paid and How Much

Who qualifies

• Amazon Flex drivers who delivered in the United States at any point between late 2016 and 2019, the period when the FTC alleged Amazon withheld part of customers' tips.
• Drivers who had more than $5 in tips withheld received the full withheld amount back. Drivers below that threshold were not paid, because the cost of issuing the payment would have exceeded it.
• The May 2025 round was narrower: it went only to drivers who had already accepted their first payment and had $600 or more in tips withheld.
• Drivers whose total payment exceeded $600 — 19,980 people in the first round — received an IRS Form 1099 with the payment, because returned tips count as taxable income.
• No driver had to apply, opt in, or prove anything. The FTC identified every eligible driver from Amazon's own payment records and mailed checks, PayPal payments, or Zelle transfers.
• This settlement covered withheld tips only. It did not resolve the separate lawsuits over whether Flex drivers should be classified as employees rather than independent contractors, which are distinct cases with their own outcomes.

Amazon Flex tip payments — what happened and when

1. 1

   February 2021 — Amazon agreed to repay $61.7 million

   The FTC announced that Amazon would surrender the entire amount it had withheld from Flex drivers. The FTC brought this as an administrative action rather than a court case, and it approved the final consent order on June 10, 2021.

2. 2

   November 2021 — the first and largest distribution

   The FTC sent 139,507 checks and 1,621 PayPal payments, returning nearly $60 million. Drivers were told to cash checks by January 7, 2022. Every driver with more than $5 withheld got back the full amount, averaging $422.

3. 3

   2024 — the FTC used Zelle for the first time to reach more drivers

   Because checks had gone uncashed and money remained in the fund, the FTC tried a new method. Its 2024 report on refunds records 2,806 successful Zelle payments, which raised participation from 90.3% to 92.3% of eligible drivers — the agency's first use of Zelle for any refund program.

4. 4

   May 2025 — a second check for the drivers owed the most

   With money still left in the fund, the FTC mailed 19,478 checks totaling over $2.3 million. These went to drivers who had accepted their first payment and had $600 or more in tips withheld, so this round paid the drivers Amazon had shorted the most. Checks had to be cashed within 90 days.

5. 5

   If a check arrived and you were not sure it was real

   It almost certainly was. Rust Consulting administers these payments for the FTC and can confirm whether one was issued in your name at 1-800-654-8874. The FTC never charges a fee to release a refund and never asks for bank account details to cash a check.

6. 6

   Amazon is now barred from doing this again

   The order prohibits Amazon from misrepresenting a driver's likely income or rate of pay, misrepresenting how much of their tips they will be paid, and misrepresenting whether an amount a customer paid is a tip. It also cannot change how tips are used as compensation without a driver's express informed consent.

7. 7

   The money is gone, but the pattern is not

   Gig-work pay and fee cases keep settling, and most pay automatically to people identified from company records — which means the money only reaches you if your address is current. ClaimBee tracks which settlements are real, which need a claim form, and which pay you without one.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and official records

Every figure and date on this page was taken from the primary records below — court dockets, agency releases, and the settlement administrator's own notices. Payout averages we describe as averages are calculated from the official totals, not reported per-person estimates.

• FTC — refunds amazon flex drivers page (current payout status and eligibility)
• FTC press release — FTC Returns Nearly $60 Million to Drivers Whose Tips Were Illegally Withheld by Amazon
• FTC press release — FTC Approves Final Administrative Consent Order Against Amazon for Withholding Customer Tips from Amazon Flex Drivers
• FTC press release — Amazon To Pay $61.7 Million to Settle FTC Charges It Withheld Some Customer Tips from Amazon Flex Drivers
• FTC case record — Amazon Flex