NYC Council Passes Bills Expanding Minimum Pay Protections to App-Based Grocery Delivery Workers

Takeaways

• The New York City Council passed several bills providing additional protections to app-based food delivery workers, including entitling a larger number of delivery workers to the $21.44 minimum pay-rate.
• App-based grocery delivery workers are among those included in the expanded coverage.
• Some food and grocery delivery companies have voiced strong pushback and urged the Council to reconsider these bills.

Related links

• New York City’s Pay Protections for App-Based Workers Upheld, Allowed to Go into Effect
• Intro. 737-A
• Intro. 738-A
• Intro. 859-A
• Intro. 1133-A
• Intro. 1135-A

Article

The New York City Council has passed a several bills that would extend pay and other protections to many more app-based delivery workers and entitle them to a minimum pay-rate of $21.44 per hour.

In December 2023, New York City became the first major U.S. city to implement a minimum pay-rate for app-based delivery workers. (See New York City’s Pay Protections for App-Based Workers Upheld, Allowed to Go into Effect for more information.) This enactment followed debates among elected officials and delivery app companies about the principles underlying the law due to concerns that the law would result in increased prices, the elimination of jobs, reduced tipping, less flexibility for workers to choose shifts, and other adverse outcomes.

After several scheduled minimum pay-rate increases for app-based delivery workers, as of April 1, 2025, the minimum pay-rate is $21.44 per hour.

On July 14, 2025, the New York City Council passed the following bills to provide food delivery workers additional pay protections and broaden the coverage to include minimum pay-rate protections for app-based grocery delivery workers: Intro. 737-A, Intro. 738-A, Intro. 859-A, Intro. 1133-A, and Intro. 1135-A.

If the bills become law, a larger number of delivery workers will be afforded the protections and will be entitled to the $21.44 minimum pay-rate. This is because the bills would amend the law, which only provided pay protections for those who delivered food from restaurants through apps like DoorDash, to cover grocery delivery workers working for third-party apps such as Shipt. The effective date of the bill including minimum-pay rate protections for grocery delivery workers is tied to the enactment of other legislation related to safe delivery access for contracted delivery workers, which is currently awaiting the mayor’s signature.

In addition to expanding the scope of the law to include grocery delivery workers, the new legislation would add other protections for covered delivery workers. For instance, third-party food delivery services or third-party grocery delivery services would be required to provide a 10 percent tip option in their apps before or at the time an order is placed. Further, delivery services must pay their contracted delivery workers within seven days of the end of a pay period.

Sandy Nurse, one of the council members who sponsored the bills, celebrated their passage and stated that grocery delivery workers “do similar tasks, [] have similar risks and [] face similar exploitation by apps” and that “[a]ll delivery workers deserve to get paid a decent wage for their work, no matter what they deliver or who they work for.” However, some food and grocery delivery companies have strongly pushed back and have urged the Council to reconsider these bills. For instance, one company’s spokesperson noted, “The city’s own data shows that this bill could drive grocery delivery costs up by a staggering 46%, cut off access to work for thousands of NYC delivery workers, and increase fees on local grocers.”

The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will continue to monitor whether delivery platform companies are complying with the law. If you have any questions regarding compliance with current or likely expanded app-based delivery worker rights or any other issues involving worker classification or payment of wages to delivery workers, please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney.