Mohammed Riyaj, a 26-year-old delivery worker in Brooklyn, had high hopes for a new city law intended to increase tips for him and thousands of other delivery workers who ply New York City's streets daily.
Nearly two weeks into the initiative, however, his expectations have been diminished.
Despite assurances that the law would make tipping more straightforward for customers and result in a pay bump for him and other delivery workers, Riyaj said the increased tips simply haven’t materialized so far, leaving him frustrated.
Delivery workers for Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub voiced similar concerns.
“ We need to pay rent, we need to eat something, we need to take care of our family,” said Riyaj, who said his earnings from Grubhub and DoorDash help him support his relatives in Bangladesh.
The new “tipping fairness” law, which went into effect Jan. 26, came in response to allegations by advocates and city agencies that Uber Eats and DoorDash had deliberately designed their apps in a way that “hid or delayed tip prompts.”
The new measure requires app-based delivery companies – which deny any attempt to suppress tips – to make their tipping prompts more visible, and make the request either before or at checkout, rather than upon delivery. The law would also require companies to offer a 10% or greater tip option.
But two weeks into the rollout of the new law, delivery workers and their advocates say the big payout remains elusive and the new requirements are confusing. A major snowstorm during the initial rollout that briefly sidelined some delivery services and slowed work further complicated the picture.
Ligia Guallpa, the executive director of the Workers Justice Project, which represents many of the city’s 80,000 delivery workers, called the law “a real victory because it does bring the tipping option at checkout, which was something that did not exist.”
But Guallpa said the rollout had been chaotic, leaving many workers confused and suspicious about whether the companies were operating in good faith.
“ If you're a deliverista who's not making enough at the end of the day or to cover your day of work,” Guallpa said, “you'll be incentivized to work longer hours [and] accept every order.”
Samantha Ramirez, a spokesperson for DoorDash, which refers to delivery workers as “Dashers,” said the company followed the new law and that customers were offered a variety of tip suggestions, including 5%, 10%, “other” and “tip later,” the last of which allowed customers to leave a tip up to 30 days after delivery.
“Dashers and delivery workers in New York City are earning more than ever – roughly $30 an hour before tips while on delivery,” Ramirez said in a statement. “To be extremely clear: Dashers always keep 100% of their tips.”
Najy Kamal, a spokesperson for Grubhub, said the company had always kept its tipping option at checkout, a position acknowledged by the Workers Justice Project.
“Tipping your delivery drivers should be easy, not made more difficult,” Kamal said in a statement.
City officials said it’s still early but that they are monitoring the situation.
Stephany Vasquez Sanchez, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, said in a statement that “engineering delivery apps to suppress tips is illegal and morally bankrupt” and that the agency would receive reports from the app companies regarding the first month of tip earnings at the end of March.
The agency said past hurdles had translated into tips nosediving within one week in 2023, from $3.66 to $0.93 per delivery, leading to $550 million in reduced tips over two years, or $5,800 per worker annually.
“DCWP will use every enforcement tool at our disposal to ensure that delivery app companies comply with our city’s laws and delivery workers’ tips and earnings are protected,” Vasquez Sanchez said.
Riyaj said he was “really happy” when the “tipping fairness” law was passed but is still waiting for the results to hit his pockets.
He pointed to a typical example on a cold day last week, when he picked up and delivered back-to-back orders by bicycle from a Shake Shack and Chick-Fil-A in Downtown Brooklyn. The bundled orders came out to a total of $12, Riyaj said, for which his tip came out to a mere 89 cents.
Aside from the meager sum, Riyaj said he had no way of determining whether the tip was from one of the two customers or the sum of two gratuities, leaving him frustrated.
Aboubacar Ki, a 36-year-old delivery worker from the Bronx, said delivery workers weren’t always frustrated with tips. In 2022-2023, Ki said there were weeks when he made $700 to $800 in tips.
Since then, he said, his tips had consistently been disappointing, including over the last few weeks. In the week of Jan. 12-19, he made 92 deliveries, for which he earned just $23 in tips. The following week, he made 75 deliveries and earned $60 in tips,
“Not a big difference,” he said. “ It's difficult to have 10% of the customers give you tips. Maybe 5%.”
Delivery workers said the frigid weather had compounded their struggles, forcing them to choose between working in single-digit temperatures or staying safe indoors. In the week following the implementation of the law, Ki said he opted to do deliveries on just one day, earning $10 in tips over the course of 26 deliveries.
“It's really cold,” Ki said. “It's difficult to stay outside.”
For some workers, the difference between earning a tip at checkout or upon delivery can be meaningful.
Mamadou Bande, who works for Uber Eats and DoorDash, said in some instances, workers had to ascend multiple flights of stairs in order to get an order to a hungry customer.
“ Most likely you're going to arrive angry, but if you get a tip (beforehand), then that can make you smile, too,” Bande said.
Particularly in the winter, as drivers contended with wind, plummeting temperatures and icy roads, Bande said he was forced to consider whether the pay justified the considerable effort and risk, or whether he would need to leave New York City and find work elsewhere.
“ We’re not asking too much,” Bande said. “We’re just asking to be paid fairly.”
