For years, Amazon has been under scrutiny in matters concerning employee treatment. Some issues that people complain about include poor pay, difficult working hours, and minimal benefits.
Also, Amazon’s mandatory overtime policy for its workers has been a cause for debate, with many people disagreeing with it. But what does this policy contain? Keep reading to find out.
What is VET at Amazon?
Amazon’s VET (Voluntary Extra Time) policy gives employees an opportunity to put in extra hours outside of their regular scheduled shifts. VET is optional and employees receive their standard pay (or overtime if they’ve surpassed 40 hours) for voluntarily taking an extra shift. Most Amazon warehouses with large quantities of orders and quotas to meet offer staff VET to meet customer expectations.
If you are a full-time Amazon employee, you should be on-call for at least one overtime shift every week. Non-salary employees get paid when they work extra hours, while salaried employees can’t qualify for this extra pay.

How Much Does Amazon VET Pay?
Amazon pays VET at the same rate as regular pay and honors overtime. If Amazon employees surpass 40 hours per week, they receive time and a half for those extra hours. This also applies to occasions such as national holidays and Prime Day.
For instance, employees who usually make $15 per hour will have a $22 wage if they work overtime and during holiday hours.
Salaried Amazon employees, however, have no entitlement to this overtime pay. The same applies to holiday hours, although this may differ depending on a region’s policies.
How To Cancel Amazon Vet
You can cancel Amazon VET by following the below steps:
- Go to the ‘Your Orders’ section
- Locate the order
- Click on ‘problem with order.’
- Select the cancel request
- Fill in your comments in the text box
- Select submit
Does Every Employee Need to Work Extra Hours?
According to the Amazon VET policy, only full-time employees can work extra hours. This is because their part-time counterparts cannot work beyond their scheduled shifts.
The overtime rule, however, may vary depending on various departments. For instance, Amazon Fresh drivers have the freedom to select the times they wish to work.
The same isn’t true for Amazon warehouse employees who need to achieve at least eight working hours and top that with 10 to 20 extra hours.
What Happens If An Employee Misses Their Vet?
There is a list of restrictions Amazon places on their employees if they miss their scheduled extra time. For instance, they may remove your vacation time, UPT, and personal time.
Missed overtime could be problematic for employees, given that Amazon is notorious for scheduling extra hours at the last minute. Therefore, if Amazon has already accounted for your time and you miss your overtime because of unavoidable circumstances, the ramifications will be dire.
If you are working with Amazon full time, it would help always to be ready for last-minute overtime.
Does Amazon Make Exceptions For Not Working Overtime?
Unfortunately, Amazon isn’t particularly lenient with full-time workers when scheduling extra time. However, they will make an exception for full-time students. As for parents, there are no overtime exceptions for parental obligations, such as dropping your kid at school. Therefore, parents looking to join Amazon should know the extra hours they may have to put in.
How Many Extra Hours Do Amazon Employees Work?
While Amazon has a mandatory overtime policy, it is essential that employees do not work beyond 60 hours weekly. Reliable sources show that the most common extra working hours are 10 per week.
Amazon VTO Policy
VTO stands for voluntary time off. It is an employee benefit in which employers give their staff the freedom to either leave work early or arrive late without affecting leave balances and total work hours.
Amazon has a voluntary VTO policy that allows warehouse workers to take time off without penalties. However, you do not receive payment for your time off. Amazon commits to ensuring efficiency in all its warehouses, and VTO is one way to achieve that. It helps manage payroll costs while giving workers permission to take time off without eating their benefits or leave balances.
Why Does Amazon Offer VTO?
Besides competitive pay, arrangements like VTO are the perfect opportunity for Amazon workers to do whatever they want without jeopardizing their status or benefits. Warehouse workers can take VTO and go home early, provided Amazon meets their quotas earlier. Typically, Amazon offers VTO before holidays.
If you are an employee, taking some time off will provide an opportunity for you to handle personal business or enjoy time with your loved ones. In addition, the VTO policy helps Amazon cut costs and maximize efficiency. It also ensures that staffs have adequate support, time, and resources to navigate their daily lives.
How Amazon Employees Can Find Out About VTO
VTO options vary depending on the Amazon location. Different fulfillment centers have different activity levels because the volumes of work and the number of employees vary. Amazon warehouse workers should sign up for email or text alerts to receive notifications about VTO opportunities when they come up.
Does VTO Affect Full-Time Workers?
Among the many concerns around the subject of VTO is how unpaid time off affects salaries and benefits. The fact is that VTO does not affect any of these aspects. Salaries and hourly workers who should cover 40 hours per week receive no penalties for leaving work early.
Also, voluntary time off doesn’t affect healthcare or other benefits for both full- and part-time workers.
Do Amazon Employees Work Overtime on Prime Day?
Both Prime Day and the days leading up to it are mandatory overtime days for many employees. During this week, full-time employees will need to attain a minimum of 55 working hours and top that with at least an extra hour.
Want to learn more about working at Amazon? Check out these posts or learn if Amazon employees get a discount, do Amazon employees get free Prime, and does Amazon pay weekly or biweekly.
Conclusion
Competitive pay, a wide variety of employee benefits, the VTO, and VET policy are but a few of Amazon’s hallmarks. VET allows employees to work extra hours while VTO permits them to take some time off.
The overtime policy is mandatory for full-time employees and optional for part-timers at Amazon. If you have questions about the Amazon VET policy, the above points will help you understand the subject better.