The City of New York has ruled that Uber, DoorDash, and Grubhub must pay deliverers at least $17.96 an hour, following a failure for the companies to appeal a September decision made by a judge.
The ruling mandates that the delivery companies either pay workers the said rate or pay them roughly 50 cents a minute. Company Relay Delivery is currently not obligated to implement the pay raise as they have an ongoing lawsuit against the city.
In addition, the law requires delivery apps to raise their pay by $1 every April. By 2025, the minimum wage for deliverers working for apps will be $20.
New York Mayor Eric Adams celebrated the ruling as a progressive victory, calling it “a powerful tool to hold apps accountable.” His full statement read:
“Our delivery workers have consistently delivered for us — now, we are delivering for them. Today’s court decision is yet another promise made and promise kept by our administration on behalf of working New Yorkers, and it is a powerful tool to hold apps accountable. This minimum pay rate will guarantee our delivery workers and their families can earn a living and keep our city’s legendary restaurant industry going strong.”
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Josh Gold, the Senior Director of Public Policy and Communications at Uber, said the wage hike “eliminates jobs, discourages tipping, and forces couriers to go faster and accept more trips.”
In their appeal of the September ruling, Uber, DoorDash, and other food delivery companies argued that it showed New York officials did not understand the delivery industry and that it would harm New York consumers. The apps will need to increase the number of trips per hour to offset the new costs, causing them to reduce the number of areas they can serve and therefore hurting the bottom lines of restaurants and convenience for customers.
“The sad truth is that the court has chosen to ignore the harmful consequences such a misguided minimum pay rule will cause,” a DoorDash spokesperson said. “We will continue to explore all paths forward to ensure these minimum pay rules work for everyone who uses these platforms in New York City.”
Grubhub was “disappointed with the judge’s decision and are evaluating our next steps,” said a company spokesperson.
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