How Amazon Weekend Shifts Work: Pay, Schedules, & More

While much of the work at Amazon gets done on weekdays, Weekend shifts are available at most Amazon warehouses, including Fulfillment Centers (FCs), Sortation Centers (SCs), and Delivery Stations (DSs).

Amazon weekend shifts run from Friday through Sunday, often in combination with other shifts. The timing of weekend shifts varies by location, but you can work early morning, afternoon, evening, or night shifts on weekends. 

Full-time employees typically take on at least one weekend shift per week. As for their part-time counterparts, Paul Avila – a college student serving at the T3 level – mentions that some warehouses may limit the shifts to Saturdays and Sundays.

However, it is possible to work only on weekends by choosing Flex Time or weekend shifts. “Some sites actually offer exclusively weekend shifts from Friday to Sunday,” confirms Alex Rodriguez , a T1 Amazon warehouse worker based in California. According to him, you can pick up a permanent weekend schedule without relying on only Flex Time or VET.

All these weekend shifts usually pay more per hour than weekday shifts. The extra pay, called a “shift differential” by Amazon, can be anywhere from $0.50 to $2.50, depending on the site's weekend staffing needs.

In this post, we'll discuss finding weekend shifts in Amazon warehouses, the pros and cons of working them, and more. If you otherwise want an overview of all types of shifts at Amazon, check out our full post on Amazon warehouse shifts.

What are weekend shifts at Amazon? 

A weekend shift is any shift from Friday night to Sunday night. Weekend shifts can start as early as 7:30 pm on Friday, continue at any time on Saturday, and end by 6:00 pm on Sunday. The shifts are offered at various times of the day, in the form of:

• Early morning shifts
• Day shifts
• Night shifts

As with all shifts at Amazon, the shift length depends on the type of facility you work at:

• At a Fulfillment Center (FC), you’ll typically work 10-12 hour shifts. 
• At a Sortation Center (SC), you’ll typically work 3-5 hour shifts. Note that you can work double shifts if you want more hours.
• At a Delivery Station (DS), you’ll typically work 8-hour shifts. Note that DS sites only offer early morning shifts and night shifts - no day shifts.

Who can work weekend shifts? 

The majority of Amazon warehouse employees can work weekend shifts. It doesn’t matter if you’re an FC Associate , SC Associate , or DS Associate - all of these roles offer weekend shifts. Neither does it matter whether you work full-time, reduced-time, part time, or Flex Time.

“Seasonal or White Badges can work weekends as well,” adds Alex, in reference to warehouse workers hired on temporary contracts. 

Working weekend shifts on a fixed schedule

If you have a fixed schedule (full-time, reduced-time, or part-time), there are several ways to get weekend shifts in Amazon warehouses. 

One is to choose a schedule with weekend shifts like Full-Time Saturday to Wednesday or Full-Time Sunday to Thursday. Alternatively, you can work weekend shifts by taking on extra shifts through Voluntary Extra Time (VET). However, the availability of VET for specific shifts is inconsistent. So, if you really want to work weekend shifts, we suggest you apply for a schedule that has weekend shifts (or a Flex Time position).

According to Justin James , an Amazon warehouse worker of two years, “some sites will also assign weekend shifts through MET (Mandatory Extra Time), depending on staffing requirements.” They often go to employees who aren't normally scheduled for weekends.

If you otherwise want to work exclusively on weekends, the only way to do so is to pick a Flex Time position. 

You could, alternatively, search for warehouse roles that operate only on weekends. As Paul Avila reports, “some fulfillment centers have part-time positions working exclusively on Saturdays and Sundays.” 

Working weekend shifts on a flexible schedule

The other way to work weekend shifts is by applying for a Flex Time position. Amazon’s Flex Time program offers the ability to pick the shifts you want to work. You do have to work a minimum number of hours each week (4 for Flex Part Time and 20 for Flex Reduced Time), but you have no set shifts.

Instead of working a set schedule, shifts are posted to the Amazon A to Z app each week, and you pick which shifts and how many hours you want to work. If you prefer weekend shifts, you can pick those.

“Certain days and times will be much more in demand than others,” explains Justin. “So, you may have to be quick on the draw with those shifts.”

According to Alex Rodriguez, though, the good thing is that the majority of workers on Flex tend to covet the weekday schedules. So, chances are good of being able to pick up weekends through Flex.

This is corroborated by his colleague Paul, who agrees that weekend shifts are often less in demand for Flex workers. “From what I have seen they are usually picked last. So Flex is a great opportunity to get weekend shifts.”

Does Amazon pay more for weekend work?

The answer is yes - Amazon typically offers a shift differential for weekend shifts. The exact amount you’ll get depends on your position, site, and current business needs - it isn’t the same across all positions or sites. In general, Amazon warehouse employees have reported getting a shift differential of anywhere from $0.50 to $3.50 per hour for weekend work. Paul himself adds, that many of the weekend VET shifts also get the extra pay as an incentive for warehouse workers.

Keep in mind the shift differential amount completely depends on how badly the Amazon site you’re applying to needs weekend workers. If a site has an abundance of people willing to work on weekends, they may not offer a weekend shift differential at all.

How can I find weekend shift jobs at Amazon?

Amazon has a hiring portal on which you can view, select, and apply for all available Amazon warehouse jobs, as well as search & filter them based on your criteria (distance, shift timing, etc). At the top of the page, there is a search bar and a filter menu that allows you to change the criteria for which jobs you wish to view.

Clicking or tapping the “Add Filter” button will bring up the filter menu, which looks like this:

From this filter menu, you can select the criteria you wish to apply for your job search (full-time, reduced-time, part-time, weekend shifts, weekday shifts, evening shifts, night shifts, etc).

After you’re done making your selections, select the “Show 12 results” button, and you’ll be shown a list of all jobs that meet your search criteria. Alternatively, you can select the “Guided” button in the top left of the screen, which brings you to a series of questions that are designed to help you figure out which shifts would work best for you.

After making your search, you’ll see a list of all the Amazon jobs that meet your search criteria:

Once you select a position, you’ll be brought to a screen with more information about the job (job type, job duration, hourly pay rate, work address). This page also has a menu labeled “Work shift”:

Clicking the work shift menu will bring up a list of available shifts within the selected position:

Each shift that is listed within the work shift menu contains information to help you decide which one works best for you.

The Shift section tells you what days and what hours you’ll be working, along with the total number of hours you’ll work per week.

The Duration section lets you know whether you’ll be a permanent employee (no set duration) or a seasonal employee (up to 11 months).

The Start date tells you when you’ll be starting if you’re hired.

The language section tells you what languages are supported on the job.

Finally, the $xx.xx/hr in the bottom right corner lets you know what your hourly wage will be, and the sign-on bonus will be listed in the top right corner if there is one.

For example, if you select the first shift on the list, you’ll be a seasonal employee working 10 hours a day on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, for a total of 40 hours a week; you’ll start on December 27, 2023; and you’ll be making $20.50 per hour.

Some positions offer a sign-on bonus, as shown in our examples here. If there’s a sign on bonus, it’ll be displayed in the top right corner of the shift listing within the work shift menu. Paul however insists that your bonus earnings won’t be released in full at the beginning of employment. They are, instead, paid out in two installments over a period of time:

Once you’ve selected a shift, you’ll be brought back to the job listing from where you can select Apply to continue to the job application for that shift.

Pros & Cons of working weekend shifts

Pros:

• Due to the shift differential, you’ll likely make more income than you would working comparable weekday shifts.
• Commute times are noticeably shorter on the weekends in most areas.
• You can still work at Amazon even if you have commitments on the weekdays; such as taking care of children while a spouse works or going to school.
• Working weekends allows you to free up more time on the weekdays to do things such as errands, leisure activities, and spending time with family.
• Parking can be easier to find at Amazon warehouses on weekends, as the majority of the workforce tends to work weekdays.
• The workload during the weekend tends to be lower than on weekdays.

Cons:

• You may have to miss events that are scheduled on weekends (which many are).
• Can contribute to social isolation if most or all of your friends and family are off on weekends while you’re working.
• Working weekends can contribute to a lack of work-life balance in the short term and burnout in the long term.
• Weekend work can detract from your ability to engage in hobbies, self-care, and self-improvement activities if you’re not actively keeping up with those things.

Get started

Whether or not weekend work sounds right for you, Amazon has something for everyone. Apply now to a position near you.