DoorDash and Postmates agree to pay workers over $360K for violating Seattle hazard pay law

Seattle is making the gig economy pay up — this time, to the tune of $361,950. That’s how much DoorDash and Postmates agreed to pay workers for violations of Seattle’s first-in-the-nation hazard pay law, which requires large food and grocery delivery companies to pay workers an additional $2.50/delivery during the coronavirus emergency.

Gig companies like DoorDash and Postmates like to think they’re above the law, but the Seattle Office of Labor Standards just took action to hold them accountable. Workers filed complaints with OLS after noticing they weren’t seeing hazard pay correctly added to all their deliveries on the DoorDash and Postmates apps, which prompted an audit. OLS reached an agreement with the companies, compelling them to make workers whole by promptly providing back pay and interest.

Earlier this summer, gig workers in Seattle came together to win the right to hazard pay — and now, workers are standing up to make sure that this right is enforced.

Thousands of impacted drivers in Seattle received money they were owed as a result of this enforcement action. It’s the first-ever government labor standards enforcement action that actually moves money from gig company corporate bank accounts into gig workers’ pockets.

In addition to this $361,950 award, thousands of workers have been receiving their additional $2.50 in hazard pay for every delivery in Seattle since late June on DoorDash, Postmates, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Instacart, Shipt, and other food delivery platforms. Hazard pay for these essential workers will remain in effect for the length of the coronavirus pandemic.

Learn more about Seattle gig workers’ rights to hazard pay and sick leave here, and if you’re doing gig delivery work, let us know what you’re seeing, delivery-by-delivery, with our hazard pay tracker. Together, we can continue to hold gig companies accountable, protect our rights, and make sure gig workers get paid what they’re owed.