DoorDash and Uber Eats couriers in New York City get tipped an average of just 76 cents per order, down about $3 from a couple of years ago.
According to a recently released report from the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, tips for food delivery couriers dropped by more than $550 million after restaurant apps altered the customer tipping process for deliveries.
Uber Eats and DoorDash workers were making an average tip of $3.66 per delivery in November 2023 and are now making just 76 cents.
The upside is that workers’ total pay rose by $1.2 billion after the department started enforcing a minimum rate that restaurant apps must pay their workers in December 2023.
Couriers were taking home $11.12 an hour with tips before the minimum pay rate was enforced, according to a study from the department in November 2022. The minimum pay rate increased to $21.44 an hour last spring.
Despite the win for couriers’ hourly wages, the city is still pushing to make it easier to tip. The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection accused DoorDash and Uber Eats of changing their platforms to make it “harder to leave tips for delivery workers” after the minimum pay rate was enforced.
“NYC consumers could only leave tips after checkout, and by initiating separate processes that were easy-to-miss and more difficult to navigate,” the department said.
To combat this, new amendments were made to the city’s delivery worker laws, requiring delivery apps to give New Yorkers an option to tip during checkout. Customers will be able to choose a 10 percent tip or a custom amount on the platforms. The new requirements will take effect on January 26.
“If the apps apply the same tipping options they use elsewhere to NYC, this will increase delivery worker earnings by $390 million per year,” the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection said.
John Horton, DoorDash’s head of North America public policy, told The Independent, “The facts are simple: Dashers in New York City earn an average of almost $30 per hour while on delivery before tips, more than many first responders.”
“Moving tipping to after checkout isn’t novel or nefarious – it’s how tipping works in many areas of life,” Horton said. “What’s really happening is the DCWP wants to pressure consumers to tip even more. As we’ve said, forcing people to tip may as well be a tax. It should be up to consumers, not politicians, whether they want to tip more in New York after already paying for a billion dollar raise for workers.”
DoorDash and Uber have sued the city over the new requirements. The Independent has reached out to Uber for comment.
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