Amazon Agrees to Pay Fine for Wage Law Violation by Contractor

Amazon.com agreed to pay over $80,000 (roughly Rs. 52 lakhs) in dues and fines after a delivery contractor of the online retailer failed to pay employee wages, Massachusetts' attorney general said.

The contractor, VHU Express, was hired by Amazon to provide delivery services for two warehouses in Massachusetts.

An investigation found that VHU and its owner Lisa Bythewood had not paid 52 employees for delivering Amazon packages between December 2015 and February 2016, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement.

"We have ended our relationship with the company and are taking action to ensure impacted drivers are receiving payment for their work," an Amazon spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday.

Separately, Amazon.com said on Wednesday customer orders for home services like plumbing and mounting TVs had increased 20 percent per month on average since the online retailer launched the platform last year.

The marketplace allows Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, to enter the lucrative field of local services that is already crowded with review sites like Yelp, Angie's List and startups like TaskRabbit.

Adding local services to its offering makes sense for Amazon, which has said that over 85 million US customers shop for products that require additional services like installation.

© Thomson Reuters 2016