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For Immediate Release
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
New York City Issues Revised Proposed Minimum Pay Rate for Third Party App-based Restaurant Delivery Workers
NEW YORK, NY – New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga today released a revised proposed rule to establish a minimum pay rate for NYC’s more than 60,000 third party app-based restaurant delivery workers. DCWP received nearly 2,000 public comments about the initial proposed rule across two public hearings and a lengthy public comment period. Based on feedback from workers and the restaurant delivery apps, DCWP has made changes to the initial proposed rule and will be holding another public hearing on April 7, 2023, and an opportunity to submit public comments. The revised rule, when fully implemented in 2025, provides for a pay rate of $19.96 per hour – nearly three times what delivery workers currently make, establishing pay equity with Uber and Lyft drivers and other workers who earn a minimum wage.
“Restaurant delivery workers work long hours at all times of the day, often facing difficult working conditions, to deliver warm meals to our doors, even throughout the pandemic, which also provides a vital lifeline for our city’s restaurants,” said DCWP Commissioner Mayuga. “Delivery workers, like all workers, deserve fair pay to support themselves and their families. We are excited to establish a minimum pay rate and look forward to receiving additional public feedback on the new proposal.”
Under this revised proposed rule, restaurant delivery workers will be paid $19.96 an hour by 2025, plus an adjustment for inflation. The rate would start at $17.96 an hour beginning this year and would be phased in over the next two years. The revised proposed rule gives apps flexibility in how to meet the minimum pay requirement.
- Apps that pay workers for all the time a worker is connected to the app (the time waiting for trip offers and trip time) must pay at least $17.96 per hour, which is approximately $0.30* per minute, not including tips; or
- Apps that only pay for trip time (the time from accepting a delivery offer to dropping off the delivery) must pay at least approximately $0.50* per minute of trip time, not including tips.
DCWP’s study found that workers spend approximately 60% of their working time engaged in trips and 40% on-call. For example, on a given day, a worker may be on-call awaiting trip offers for 4 hours and making deliveries for 6 hours. If that worker’s app only pays for trip time, the worker would make $179.60 based on the trip time rate. If, instead, the worker’s app pays for both trip time and on-call time, the worker will make $179.60.
*Note: Due to rounding, these per-minute rates are approximate. Apps would have to calculate exact pay in accordance with the rule.
DCWP’s study showed that delivery workers spend 18% of their time connected to more than one app, often called multi-apping. To account for multi-apping, DCWP reduced the rate by $3.60 from the initial proposed rate. The revised proposed rule also reflects a small reduction to account for recent inflation data.
In September 2021, the New York City Council passed Local Law 115 requiring DCWP to study the pay and working conditions of app-based restaurant delivery workers and to establish a minimum pay rate for their work based on the study results. In November 2022, DCWP released an initial proposed minimum pay rule and a report summarizing the study. The study draws from data obtained from restaurant delivery apps, including DoorDash, GrubHub, UberEats, and Relay, surveys distributed to delivery workers and restaurants, testimony, extensive discussions with stakeholders on all sides, and publicly available data. DCWP received nearly 2,000 public comments about the initial proposed rule, across two public hearings and a lengthy public comment period.
NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) protects and enhances the daily economic lives of New Yorkers to create thriving communities. DCWP licenses more than 51,000 businesses in more than 40 industries and enforces key consumer protection, licensing, and workplace laws that apply to countless more. By supporting businesses through equitable enforcement and access to resources and, by helping to resolve complaints, DCWP protects the marketplace from predatory practices and strives to create a culture of compliance. Through its community outreach and the work of its offices of Financial Empowerment and Labor Policy & Standards, DCWP empowers consumers and working families by providing the tools and resources they need to be educated consumers and to achieve financial health and work-life balance. DCWP also conducts research and advocates for public policy that furthers its work to support New York City’s communities. For more information about DCWP and its work, call 311 or visit DCWP at nyc.gov/dcwp or on its social media sites, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Media Contact:
Michael Lanza
Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
(212) 436-0042
press@dcwp.nyc.gov