New York City passes legislation to protect food delivery workers

Usman Khan Lodhi @mylodhi · Sep 23, 2021 22:28 EDT0


The lawmakers in New York City have passed legislation which sets out to protect food delivery workers. By doing so, the city becomes one of the first in the U.S. to regulate an industry that had a boom during the coronavirus pandemic. In New York City, roughly 65,000 food delivery workers were considered essentials workers during the pandemic.

Since these workers are classified as independent contractors, they do not get access to benefits such as minimum wage or overtime. There is minimal security against injuries while working or earning shortfalls.

The measures necessitate that restaurants let couriers use their bathrooms, set minimum per-trip pay for the workers, and assurance that couriers are entitled to receive full tips. Additionally, the sweeping legislation also entailed that workers are permitted to set limits on their routes and the apps should pay them at least once a week. The payment plans for workers offered should contain one that doesn't require a bank account.

The legislation received some support from Grubhub and DoorDash, the city's leading food delivery companies. When asked to comment on the matter, Uber didn't respond.

Source: Bloomberg (paywall)