Doordash misleidde tussen 2017-2019 klanten en bezorgers en moet nu terubetalen.
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DoorDash to Pay $16.8 Million in Back Pay to New York Couriers
State says DoorDash used tips to subsidize base pay in 2017-19
NY attorney general says firm must change payment practices
By Natalie Lung
24 februari 2025 at 19:30 CET
3:08
DoorDash Inc., the biggest food-delivery firm in the US by market share, agreed to pay New York couriers $16.8 million in back pay to resolve a state investigation into its payment practices.
DoorDash used customer tips to subsidize base pay it had already guaranteed to workers between May 2017 and September 2019, “misleading both consumers and delivery workers,” the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement on Monday. For example, for orders with guaranteed pay of $10, if a customer tipped $3, the company would pay $7 to the driver. Users also had “no way of knowing that DoorDash was using tips to reduce its own costs” as disclosures about tipping were buried in online documents, she said.
New Yorkers placed more than 11 million delivery orders with DoorDash during that period, James said, adding that about 63,000 New York delivery workers are expected to benefit from the settlement.
In resolving the probe, the state is asking the company to revise its payment practices so that tips don’t subsidize guaranteed pay. The firm must also provide a breakdown of every order payment, including base pay, promotions and tips, to workers, and add clear disclosures about its revised payment practice to consumers on its website and app. DoorDash will also pay as much as $1 million in administrative costs to help issue the payments to eligible workers starting early this year.
“The allegations settled were related to an old pay model that was retired in 2019,” a DoorDash spokesperson said. “While we believe that our practices properly represented how Dashers were paid during this period, we are pleased to have resolved this years-old matter and look forward to continuing to offer a flexible way for millions of people to reach their financial goals.”
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Gig-economy companies like DoorDash, which rely on a readily available supply of couriers to quickly pick up and deliver orders, have lobbied governments for years to keep their workers classified as independent contractors instead of employees to minimize labor-related overhead costs. That designation excludes workers from traditional employment protections such as an hourly minimum wage, which has meant that income from gig work can be unpredictable, as the pay varies based on factors including order size, travel distance and real-time demand.
Since becoming a public company in 2020, DoorDash remains under investor scrutiny to protect its margins. In October, the firm posted its first quarterly operating profit since the second quarter of 2020.
The New York resolution follows a similar $2.5 million settlement DoorDash reached in 2020 with then-DC Attorney General Karl Racine, who also alleged the firm “misled” consumers and “used tips left for workers to boost the company’s bottom line.”
Even as policymakers and labor groups have sought to secure more benefits for independent workers such as minimum pay, DoorDash has responded by raising fees for customers and changing how workers get tipped.
For example, after New York City’s minimum wage for delivery drivers went into effect in December 2023, DoorDash and Uber Technologies Inc. moved the in-app prompt for tipping to appear after customers have already placed their orders, which could mean fewer tips for drivers.
DoorDash said at the time the move was necessary “to ensure our platform remains affordable for all New Yorkers.”