DoorDash Inc., the leading food-delivery firm in the US, has agreed to pay New York couriers $16.8 million in back pay. The state investigation found that between 2017 and 2019, DoorDash used customer tips to subsidize its base pay for workers, misleading both consumers and delivery workers. The company had guaranteed a certain amount of pay per order but then paid drivers only the difference between what was tipped and its own guaranteed rate. This meant that users were unaware their tips were being used to reduce costs, with disclosures about tipping buried in online documents.
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-24/doordash-to-pay-16-8-million-in-back-pay-to-new-york-couriers