Everyone who uses our platform in New York City has begun to feel the harmful impact from the extreme minimum pay rules implemented late last year.
For our platform to work, it has to work for everyone who uses it — Dashers, merchants, and consumers alike. But consumers across the five boroughs are now facing higher fees to help balance these excessive costs, which we estimate in the past two weeks alone has resulted in merchants earning $3.5 million less revenue than they otherwise would have and 200,000 fewer orders for Dashers to deliver.
While there’s a lot of uncertainty around these new pay rules, it has become clear that they aren’t working right now. To meet the rising costs from these new rules, we’re announcing further changes to how our platform works in New York City. Here’s what to expect:
An Update on Minimum Pay in NYC
The City offered two options — both deeply flawed — for how platforms like DoorDash could meet its new minimum pay rules. But in reality, there wasn’t really a choice: the Alternative Method that we have used since the rules went into effect requires platforms to pay nearly twice the minimum wage for time spent on deliveries and is simply unsustainable.
Beginning March 4, we will move to the Standard Method, meaning that Dashers will make $17.96 per hour of active time, before tips, and can also qualify for additional weekly pay adjustments. In compliance with the minimum pay rules, this active time rate will soon be increasing further to $19.56 on April 1, per guidance from the City.
Just like before, Dashers can expect that all earnings will be reviewed weekly, and any additional weekly pay adjustments will appear in their Dasher app. More information can be found here.
Priority Platform Access for NYC Dashers Based on New Rewards Program
We want to reward Dashers who are working the hardest, which is why we’re introducing a new program to support those who accept and complete the most offers and provide high-quality service to consumers and merchants. Through this Dasher Rewards program, qualifying Dashers will receive early access to schedule when they want to dash, be eligible to qualify for priority access to get on the road immediately, and have the opportunity to receive weekly bonus rewards.
We know Dashers highly value flexibility, and we are disappointed that these changes will result in less flexibility and fewer earning opportunities for many Dashers. Simply put, many Dashers will no longer be able to work whenever they like and end up earning less money as a result. However, the City acknowledged that platforms like ours would be left with no choice but to make changes to make dashing less flexible and force us to begin restricting where and when New Yorkers can choose to dash.
We expect that there will be further changes as such an extreme minimum pay rule weighs heavily on everyone who uses our platform across the five boroughs. We hope that we can find a path forward that allows us to continue to best serve the communities across New York City.
