New York City to Force Raising Wage For Delivery App Workers at Consumer’s Cost

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced on Sunday that the city will implement a new minimum wage for drivers who deliver for Uber Eats and DoorDash, according to a press release.

Delivery apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub will be required to pay at least $19.96 an hour to more than 60,000 delivery workers in NYC, according to a press release from Adams’ office. The previous average rate for delivery drivers was $7.09 an hour

The new minimum wage rate of $17.96 took effect on Monday and will increase to $19.96 an hour by April 1, 2025. After 2025, the rate will be adjusted based on inflation, according to the press release.

The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) found that “workers spend approximately 60% of their working time engaged in trips and 40%  “on-call,” and the new rate would pay workers whether they were actively delivering or not, according to the press release.

App-based delivery services have pushed back on the decision, with an Uber Eats representative saying, “The city is lying to delivery workers — they want apps to fund this increase by eliminating jobs and reducing tipping while forcing the remaining workers to deliver orders faster,” according to The Associated Press.

In a statement, DoorDash said that “to meet these new demands of such an extreme minimum pay rate, platforms like ours will have to increase costs on each order or reduce services in New York City.”

“Given the City Council’s ill-conceived policy and the broken process that resulted in such an extreme final minimum pay rule, we will continue to explore all paths forward — including litigation — to ensure we continue to best support Dashers and protect the flexibility that so many delivery workers like them depend on.”

The minimum wage hike comes at a time when many around the country are calling for minimum wage increases, with 23 states raising their rates at the beginning of 2023. The initial $17.96 an hour for NYC drivers is still higher than any of the states that raised their minimum wage, with Washington and California trailing close behind at $15.74 and $15.50 an hour respectively.