Dive Brief:

• Justice Llinét Rosado of the New York State Supreme Court Apellate Division denied two moves to appeal and stay filed by Uber, DoorDash and Grubhub that would have ensnared New York City’s delivery minimum wage rule in further court proceedings, public records show.
• Uber Eats and DoorDash both decried the ruling. DoorDash said in an emailed statement it would “explore all paths forward to ensure these minimum pay rules work for everyone,” though the company did not clarify what these efforts would entail. 
• The $17.96 minimum rate should be evident in workers’ next pay cycle, though each aggregator operates on a different pay schedule, the city wrote in an email. DoorDash, for example, said said the rule had not yet taken effect.

Dive Insight:

New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga described the ruling as a win for workers, “The minimum pay rate of at least $17.96 per hour will help lift thousands of New Yorkers and their families out of poverty, while still allowing flexibility for both apps and workers.” 

The wage rule sets delivery workers minimum hourly pay at $17.96, rising to $19.96 an hour, based on a combination of base pay, pay for workers compensation insurance and to defray expenses.

Rosado’s decision ends this stage of the appeals fight for the delivery aggregators, and reinforces a judge’s Sept. 28 decision to reject an injunction against the rule. According to the documents rejecting the companies’ appeal, the court granted some interim relief to the companies on Sept. 29, which have exempted them from paying the proposed wage while the appeal was under consideration.

In a letter in response to the companies’ request for relief, the city “estimated that food delivery workers are losing collectively $15 million dollars per week due to the delay in implementation of the Minimum Pay Rule.” The rule was scheduled to take effect in July 2023, initially.

Uber spokesperson Josh Gold said the law would threaten jobs and force “couriers to go faster and accept more trips,” results aggregators have threatened since the city first proposed the law. DoorDash alluded to “harmful consequences.”

“The minimum pay rule benefits both the city and the dedicated delivery workers whose contributions are invaluable to our economy,” New York City Corporation Counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix said.

Gold said the expense compensation could enable delivery workers to buy safer e-bikes.