Delivering Fairer Tipping Practices, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection

On January 30, 2026, Mayor Mamdani and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) Commissioner Samuel Levine announced that food delivery app companies Uber Eats, Fantuan, and Hungry Panda owed more than $5 million in worker restitution, civil penalties, and damages to resolve violations of the Minimum Pay Rate for delivery workers.^[1] Like New York City, other municipalities across the United States should enact statutory protections for delivery workers, investigate compliance, and enforce penalties to ensure workers' rights and justice.

During the Pandemic, food delivery workers were heralded as heroes who risked their health to support people who needed food and medicine deliveries.^[2] Now, six years later, these same workers are being robbed of their minimum wages and cheated out of tips by food delivery app companies.^[3] In New York City, about 61,000 people work as independent contractors delivering food using delivery apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub.^[4] Independent contractors retain control over how their work is performed, but they must pay their own employment taxes, do not receive employee benefits such as health insurance, and do not earn a regular salary.^[5]  These delivery drivers, primarily men^[6] from Black, Brown, indigenous, and immigrant communities, work through dangerous weather, unsafe traffic conditions, and under immense pressure from delivery apps to move as quickly as possible, or face penalties. ^[7] Some penalties include deactivating the accounts of drivers that the app companies determine are not accepting enough deliveries or not moving fast enough.^[8] This impacts all delivery drivers, but especially those who depend on the apps as their primary source of income, pushing them to make dangerous traffic decisions and put themselves and others at risk.^[9]

Prior to the enactment of Local Law 115 in 2021, New York City did not have a minimum pay rate for app delivery drivers who were considered independent contractors.^[10] App delivery drivers had a history of low pay rates and high expenses, like funding their own transportation.^[11] Local Law 115 asked the DCWP to investigate the pay and working conditions that food delivery drivers experienced.^[12] Their goal was to determine a method for calculating a minimum wage that the food delivery apps must pay their drivers.^[13] Their study incorporated subpoenaed food delivery app data and documents, surveys of food delivery drivers, as well as publicly available information.^[14] In 2023, after a public hearing and multiple rounds of comments, the DCWP published the Final Minimum Pay Rule.^[15] The Minimum Pay Rule was met with excitement from workers’ rights groups like the Worker’s Justice Project, who saw it as a successful step forward.^[16]

A recent report published by the DCWP found that once the Minimum Pay Rate started to be enforced, Uber Eats and DoorDash changed their app interfaces to discourage tips to delivery workers.^[17] This change, only implemented in New York City, meant that customers could only leave a tip after checkout, which had previously been part of the order process.^[18] Since the Minimum Pay Rate enactment in 2023, other food delivery apps reported steady tips while tipping on Uber Eats, and DoorDash fell by $554 million, a loss to workers of approximately $5,800 a year.^[19] Given that in 2021, the average delivery driver made $7.09 in tips per hour, $5,800 per year is approximately 800 hours of missing tips per year.^[20]

Citing these findings, DCWP has made various amendments to the Delivery Worker Laws.^[21] Changes include a requirement that “third-party food delivery service . . . must provide . . . [gratuity] . . . opportunity to a customer in plain language and in a conspicuous manner before or at the same time such customer places such order.”^[22] Uber Eats and DoorDash have sued the City of New York to enjoin these amendments.^[23] Their motion for a preliminary injunction was denied because they did not make “the required showing of a likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, or that the balance of equities and public interest favor the extraordinary remedy of preliminary relief.”^[24] But Judge George B. Daniels did note that this case raises important constitutional questions.^[25] The City of New York has filed a motion to dismiss which is pending.

Ligia Gualla, Executive Director of Worker’s Justice Project and Co-Founder of its Los Deliveristas Unidos campaign, welcomes these amendments, stating that DCWP’s findings, “confirm[] what deliveristas have lived for years: when workers won a living wage, the app companies retaliated by intentionally blocking access to tips to keep workers vulnerable and dependent.”^[26] The mayor’s office and DCWP’s focus on investigation and enforcement shows a commitment to protecting the rights of individual New Yorkers amid changing practices by food app delivery companies. Given the delivery app’s tactics in response to the original Minimum Pay Rate, NYC DCWP must continue to evaluate company data, particularly its direct impact on workers, to ensure the protection of workers’ rights going forward.

^[1] Oғғ. ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Mᴀʏᴏʀ, Mayor Mamdani Announces $5 Million Settlement, Reinstatement of as Many as 10,000 Wrongfully Deactivated Food Delivery Workers, NYC.gov (Jan. 30, 2026), https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/01/mayor-mamdani-announces--5-million-settlement--reinstatement-of- [https://perma.cc/A66Q-KKNJ].

^[2] Lɪɢɪᴀ Gᴜᴀʟʟᴘᴀ, Mᴀʀɪᴀ Fɪɢᴜᴇʀᴏᴀ & Gᴜsᴛᴀᴠᴏ Aᴊᴄʜᴇ, Dᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀɪɴɢ Jᴜsᴛɪᴄᴇ A Wᴏʀᴋᴇʀ Jᴜsᴛɪᴄᴇ Cᴇɴᴛᴇʀᴇᴅ Vɪsɪᴏɴ ғᴏʀ Sᴛʀᴇᴇᴛ Sᴀғᴇᴛʏ, Tʜᴇ Wᴏʀᴋᴇʀ’s Jᴜsᴛ. Pʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ 1 (2024), https://static1.squarespace.com/static/651571ae4b60961776b44c4b/t/6602d47b09d2ae59c7c445a5/1711461506930/Delivering-Justice-Report-2024.pdf [https://perma.cc/6DMT-CJYL].

^[3]Uʙᴇʀ Eᴀᴛs ᴀɴᴅ DᴏᴏʀDᴀsʜ Eɴɢɪɴᴇᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴀ $550 Mɪʟʟɪᴏɴ Pᴀʏ Cᴜᴛ. NYC Is Fɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ Bᴀᴄᴋ., N.Y.C. Cᴏɴsᴜᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ Wᴏʀᴋᴇʀ Pʀᴏᴛ. 1, https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dca/downloads/pdf/workers/Delivery-Worker-Tipping-Report.pdf [https://perma.cc/N6ZX-8RG6].

^[4] Gᴜᴀʟʟᴘᴀ, Fɪɢᴜᴇʀᴏᴀ & Gᴜsᴛᴀᴠᴏ, supra note 2, at 1.

^[5] Independent Contractors, N.Y. Sᴛᴀᴛᴇ Dᴇᴘ’ᴛ Lᴀʙ., https://dol.ny.gov/independent-contractors [https://perma.cc/V7XE-38ER].

^[6] A Mɪɴɪᴍᴜᴍ Pᴀʏ Rᴀᴛᴇ ғᴏʀ Aᴘᴘ-Bᴀsᴇᴅ Rᴇsᴛᴀᴜʀᴀɴᴛ Dᴇʟɪᴠᴇʀʏ Wᴏʀᴋᴇʀs ɪɴ NYC, N.Y.C. Cᴏɴsᴜᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ Wᴏʀᴋᴇʀ Pʀᴏᴛ. 12 (Nov. 2022), https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dca/downloads/pdf/workers/Delivery-Worker-Study-November-2022.pdf [https://perma.cc/M3NL-KUSB].

^[7] Gᴜᴀʟʟᴘᴀ, Fɪɢᴜᴇʀᴏᴀ & Gᴜsᴛᴀᴠᴏ, supra note 2, at 1-3.

^[8] Id. at 8.

^[9] Id. at 3.

^[10] Nᴇᴡ Yᴏʀᴋ Cɪᴛʏ Dᴇᴘᴀʀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴏғ Cᴏɴsᴜᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ Wᴏʀᴋᴇʀ Pʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ, Nᴏᴛɪᴄᴇ ᴏғ Aᴅᴏᴘᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ Fɪɴᴀʟ Rᴜʟᴇ 1, https://rules.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/DCWP-NOA-Minimum-Pay-for-Food-Delivery-Workers.pdf [https://perma.cc/UB5J-335H].

^[11] Id.

^[12] Id.

^[13] Id.

^[14] Relay Delivery, Inc. v. New York City Dept. of Consumer, No. 155944/2023, 2023 WL 6314637 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Sep. 27, 2023).

^[15] Id.

^[16] Gᴜᴀʟʟᴘᴀ, Fɪɢᴜᴇʀᴏᴀ & Gᴜsᴛᴀᴠᴏ, supra note 2, at 1-3.

^[17] Uʙᴇʀ Eᴀᴛs ᴀɴᴅ DᴏᴏʀDᴀsʜ Eɴɢɪɴᴇᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴀ $550 Mɪʟʟɪᴏɴ Pᴀʏ Cᴜᴛ. NYC Is Fɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ Bᴀᴄᴋ, supra note 3 at 1.

^[18] Id.

^[19] “The average tip at Uber Eats and DoorDash is currently $0.76 per delivery.  In contrast, the average tip is $2.17 per delivery on Restaurant Delivery Apps that offer a tipping option at checkout.  The results are clear.  When New Yorkers are given the option to tip delivery workers, they do.”  Uʙᴇʀ Eᴀᴛs ᴀɴᴅ DᴏᴏʀDᴀsʜ Eɴɢɪɴᴇᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴀ $550 Mɪʟʟɪᴏɴ Pᴀʏ Cᴜᴛ. NYC Is Fɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ Bᴀᴄᴋ, supra note 3 at 2.

^[20] A Minimum Pay Rate for App-Based Restaurant Delivery Workers in NYC, supra note 6, at 17.  $5,800/7.09 = 818.05.

^[21] Uʙᴇʀ Eᴀᴛs ᴀɴᴅ DᴏᴏʀDᴀsʜ Eɴɢɪɴᴇᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴀ $550 Mɪʟʟɪᴏɴ Pᴀʏ Cᴜᴛ. NYC Is Fɪɢʜᴛɪɴɢ Bᴀᴄᴋ, supra note 3 at 2.

^[22] New York City, N.Y., Code § 20-1522.

^[23] Id. at 3.

^[24] DoorDash, Inc. et al v. The City of New York, Docket No. 1:25-cv-10268 (S.D.N.Y. Dec 11, 2025), Court Docket.

^[25] Id.

^[26] Stephany Vasquez Sanchez, DCWP Report Shows Uber and DoorDash Drove $550 Million in Delivery Worker Pay Losses, N.Y.C. Cᴏɴsᴜᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ Wᴏʀᴋᴇʀ Pʀᴏᴛ.(Jan. 13, 2026), https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/news/005-26/dcwp-report-shows-uber-doordash-drove-550-million-delivery-worker-pay-losses [https://perma.cc/HR58-NFV9].