Walmart pays $100 million to settle FTC allegations over driver pay

Walmart is paying $100 million to settle allegations from the Federal Trade Commission and 11 states that it deceived delivery drivers about pay and caused them to lose tens of millions of dollars worth of earnings.

The complaint alleges Walmart made “false representations” to drivers in its Spark merchandise delivery service by inflating base pay, misrepresenting conditions for incentive pay, and falsely claiming drivers would receive 100% of tips going back to 2021. “Labor markets cannot function efficiently without truthful and non-misleading information about earnings and other material terms,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

• In addition to the settlement, Walmart is required to implement a program to ensure drivers are paid the promised earnings and tips, prohibited from modifying base pay after the initial offer, and banned from misrepresenting earnings information sent to Spark Drivers.

The last-mile delivery service has become an increasingly important facet of Walmart’s omnichannel business. The use of fast delivery, which the company defines as deliveries arriving in under three hours, grew 60% in 2025.

“Thanks to how we leverage our assets for a truly omnichannel experience, we’re now known for ultrafast delivery times and providing convenience,” CEO John Furner told shareholders on an earnings call.

An increasing number of customers are leaning on delivery, he added, particularly around the holidays, when “more and more customers chose to have their Thanksgiving meal delivered,” and during the recent storm as well.

In the same earnings call, Latriece Watkins, president and CEO of Walmart division Sam’s Club, said 60% of members can get delivery within three hours, and that the warehouse store plans to increase that percentage.