NYC Passes First Minimum Wage Law for Delivery Workers

Tens of thousands of New York City delivery workers will soon get a significant pay bump, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Sunday, in a move that will make New York the first big city in the U.S. to institute a minimum wage for app-based food deliverers.

A new hourly wage of $17.96 before tips will be instituted in the city as of July 12, increasing to nearly $20 by the spring of 2025. That's up from the current average hourly wage of $7 before tips, according to Adams' announcement. It will affect gig workers employed by apps like DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats.

"Like all workers, delivery workers deserve fair pay for their labor and to be able to support themselves and their loved ones," said Vilda Vera Mayuga, commissioner of the department of consumer and worker protection (DCWP). "This new minimum pay rate will ensure they earn a better day's pay while still allowing for flexibility for both apps and workers."

Mayuga announced that the plan — which was developed with the help of Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Workers Justice Project, and Gustavo Ajche of Los Deliveristas Unidos — will go into full effect in April 2025, when the more than 60,000 delivery workers will earn $19.96 an hour.

"DCWP will monitor compliance by requiring apps to submit detailed reports to us," the commissioner added.

Adams noted that delivery workers' visibility increased during the early days of the pandemic when the city was under stay-at-home orders.

"We had two New Yorks," Adams said of the time, "those who were able to stay home and those who created the environment so you were able to stay home, and we owed them a debt of gratitude. 

Guallpa, of the Workers Justice Project, predicted that app companies "will try to scare customers," claiming the higher wages will force them to raise prices for consumers.

"But what they won't tell you is that they force deliveristas, or delivery workers, to spend hundreds of dollars a month just so they can do this work," Guallpa added.

"The apps won't tell you that deliveristas don't receive any benefits, and they're required to spend their hard-earned money on expenses." (Expenses mentioned include health insurance and gear protection, paying for their equipment and e-bikes, and paying for necessary cellphone plans.)

Adams says supporting delivery workers is "a core part of our working people's agenda," adding that he doesn't believe they should be delivering food to New Yorkers' households if they can't fill the plates in their own homes.

Delivery apps slammed the new minimum wage as "extreme," with DoorDash telling the news outlet The City that it was considering legal action. Uber and GrubHub also said they were opposed to the change.

Meanwhile, some city officials also came out against the announcement, saying it fell short. While Adams touted a salary close to $18 per hour, the city's Comptroller Brad Lander says it will be more like $12.69 after expenses.

"Delivery workers should be paid at least the minimum wage after expenses, for every hour they work including the time spent waiting for their next delivery," Lander said in a statement Monday morning. "Today’s watered-down rule fails to require that."

The statement outlines his analysis of the rules, and lists steps toward this announcement that were made over the past year. According to the statement, the DCWP initially proposed rules for establishing minimum payment for delivery workers in November 2022, which it was required to do by law.

The memo says the DCWP missed its January 1, 2023, implementation deadline resulting in delivery workers missing out on "the raise they were owed by law."

"After extensive lobbying by DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber, DCWP issued a second, revised set of rules in March 2023 that reduced the pay formula by more than $3 an hour," the memo reads.  

Adams said on Sunday that the most recent minimum wage initiative aims to provide all delivery workers with a livable wage so they don't have to rely on tips.

"People must live off of a base salary," he said. Still, he says, "I encourage everyone who's listening to this, don't forget the tip. We like the tips as well."