New York City proposed to set the minimum wage for app-based food delivery workers at $23.82 per hour by 2025, representing the first wage protection in the country for workers of food delivery services. NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner, Vilda Vera Mayuga, announced the first-of-its-kind proposed minimum pay rate for NYC’s app-based restaurant delivery workers, which accounts for over 60,000 people.
The proposed rate, if fully implemented, would be $23.82 per hour: including a $19.86 base rate, $2.26 to cover workers’ expenses, and $1.70 to reflect the absence of workers’ compensation insurance. Because restaurant delivery apps classify their delivery workers as independent contractors and not as employees, these workers do not receive a minimum wage, expense reimbursement, or other benefits like health insurance and are paid $7.09 per hour on average, excluding tips.
New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, commented on the proposed rate, “Delivery workers have delivered for New York time and again, including during the COVID-19 pandemic – now it’s time for New York to deliver for them.”
Vilda Vera Mayuga further asserted that, “restaurant deliver workers serve our city every day, in all weather conditions, only to earn less than minimum wage with no benefits,” adding further, “this proposed minimum pay rate would help guarantee delivery workers a more dignified pay and rightfully establish pay equity with other workers who earn a minimum wage.”