The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection received a 260% increase in worker protection complaints, increasing from 439 complaints in fiscal year 2023 to 1,581 in 2024, according to recently released city data.
The Mayor’s Management Report, released on Sept. 16, states that app-based delivery workers, in part, have fueled the surge of complaints that the DCWP has received.
Since the rollout of the city’s minimum pay rate law for app-based delivery in December, which guaranteed delivery workers wages of at least $17.96 per hour, workers have accused apps like UberEats, DoorDash, and Grubhub of failing to comply with the minimum pay rate.
During the first two months of the law taking effect, DCWP received approximately 500 complaints from delivery workers regarding violations of the new law.
Subsequently, the number of investigations opened by DCWP increased by 71%, from 279 in fiscal year 2023 to 476 in fiscal year 2024. The number of investigations closed also increased by 43% from 270 in fiscal year 2023 to 387 in 2024, while the median number of days to close investigations decreased by 42%, improving from 194 days to 113 days.
The report attributes the changes to the high volume of app-based restaurant delivery worker investigations they conducted over the year, with the vast majority of app-based minimum pay compliance cases being closed.
Despite the complaints from delivery workers, in calculations conducted by DCWP from compliance reporting they receive from DoorDash, FanTuan, Grubhub, HungryPanda, and UberEats, the apps are by and large in compliance with the minimum pay rate. The agency has found that delivery workers earned an average of $19.26 per hour, a 64% increase from the year before.
Still, worker’s rights advocates such as Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Worker’s Justice Project, say that the increase in worker’s complaints is indicative of the base of knowledge and sense of empowerment workers are feeling as they fight back against unscrupulous employers who find ways to skirt the law.
“What we’re seeing is collective worker power holding these companies to account for their continued predatory labor practices,” she said. “These numbers speak to an important decline in the ability of app delivery companies to withhold fair wages from workers with impunity.”
Also read: New York’s Delivery App Minimum Wage Law, Explained
As for the rest of the complaints, Michael Lanza, press secretary for DCWP, says that many are concerning violations of the city’s Fair Workweek Law as well as complaints regarding violations of the city’s Paid Safe and Sick Leave law.
“DCWP is committed to supporting workers and protecting their rights, like the Fair Workweek Law, Paid Safe and Sick Leave, and the city’s minimum pay rate for app-based restaurant delivery workers,” he said. “Any delivery worker with questions about the minimum pay rate or complaints about the apps’ compliance should reach out to us immediately at nyc.gov/DeliveryApps or by calling 311.”
To learn more about the delivery worker’s Minimum Pay Rate law, check out our guide here.
