Is Amazon Delivery Open on 4th of July 2020? Are Services Running?

Happy Independence Day weekend! The 4th of July falls on a Saturday this year and many companies are shutting their doors in observance of the federal holiday. Amazon is among those organizations that cease operations for the day. Customers will have to wait until at least July 5 to receive recent Amazon purchases in the mail.

Here’s what you need to know:

Amazon Employees Get Six Paid Holidays Per Year But Some Customers May Not Have Received Packages On July 3, Either

GettyAmazon is hiring.

Amazon observes six federal holidays each year and employees receive paid days off. Those holidays include:

• New Year’s Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

However, some Amazon customers may not have received packages on July 3, either. Amazon partners with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver many of its goods, especially in more rural areas of the country, and USPS workers are federal employees.

According to federal guidelines, when a holiday falls on a Saturday, federal employees typically receive a day off on Friday. The Office of Personnel Management noted on its website that July 3, 2020, would be “treated as a holiday for pay and leave purposes.”

The U.S. Postal Service also explained on its website that some of its workers would observe the holiday on Friday “depending on employee duties and regular schedule.” The agency reaffirmed that all post offices would be closed on July 4 and there would be no mail or package deliveries.

However, customers can expect deliveries to resume on July 5. The USPS delivers “Priority Mail Express and certain Amazon packages on Sundays.

Amazon Hired 175,000 New Employees to Keep Up With Increased Demand Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

GettyA truck is seen outside the Amazon warehouse in Staten Island.

Many customers experienced delays when the coronavirus pandemic first prompted stay-at-home orders and business closures back in March in the United States. Amazon prioritized shipments of essential items, while estimated delivery for non-essential products was often several weeks out.

Amazon expanded hiring in order to keep up with increased demand as Americans spent more time at home and bought more items online. According to a survey by Digital Commerce 360 of the top 57 online retailers, overall site traffic was 17% higher in May 2020 compared to May 2019. 63% of customers reported experiencing longer delivery times than normal, 56% said items they wanted were out of stock and 31% responded that stock was limited.

Amazon responded by hiring more than 175,000 new full-time and part-time workers, according to the company’s COVID-19 blog. Amazon has said it distributed masks and other personal protective gear to employees to keep them safe at work and implemented enhanced cleaning and social distancing measures at warehouses.

The company also recently announced that all front-line employees who had been with Amazon for the entire month of June would receive a “special one-time Thank You bonus.” The bonus payments were expected to total more than $500 million. Full-time Amazon employees, Whole Foods Market employees and Delivery Service Partner drivers would receive $500 each while part-time workers earned $250.

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