New York Cheers as Minimum Wage Climbs in 2024

As the clock crept over to 2024, New York's minimum-wage workers had more reason to rejoice on Monday than just the start of a new year.

In New York City and parts of its suburbs, the minimum wage was lifted from $15 to $16 in the first of several planned yearly hikes for the Empire State. The minimum wage in the remaining parts of the state has increased to $15 from $14.20.

The minimum wage in the state is anticipated to rise annually until it reaches $16 in the remaining parts of the state and $17 in New York City and its suburbs by 2026. Increases in the future will be based on an inflation indicator called the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.

In a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute, it has been revealed that New York is among the 22 states planning to raise their minimum wages.

Meanwhile, Connecticut has raised its minimum wage from $15 to $15.69, while California has increased its minimum wage from $15.50 to $16.

Business owners criticized Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York state legislature for their proposed wage hike proposal, arguing that a higher minimum wage will drive out certain companies.

Left of Hochul, some Democrats contended that the pay raise was insufficient.

DoorDash Buries Tipping Option Deep Within App After NYC Wage Hike

Customers are asked for a tip on the checkout page in the majority of the markets where DoorDash operates; by default, the middle choice is picked. Later, on the status page, customers can change the tip even after their food is delivered, if they want.
Today, that is about to change. DoorDash said that tipping is now only available after the transaction in "select markets, including New York City," while simultaneously criticizing the minimum wage rise for delivery workers in New York City.

According to the corporation, the modification aims to "better balance the impact of" additional expenses brought about by the city's adjustment. In order to "ensure our platform remains affordable for all New Yorkers," the firm claimed that the new restrictions will "force" it to hike costs.

Recently, the company began testing a notice to consumers that their order may take longer if they chose not to tip at checkout.

Following a new legislation in New York City that raised delivery workers' pay to a minimum of $17.96 per hour, which a state appeals court affirmed last week despite efforts by the business and others to get the law overturned, DoorDash implemented a new policy and addressed long-standing grievances.

The emphasis is time - the company does not count the time Dashers wait between orders as on-the-clock work. DoorDash has not been a fan and insisted at a hearing in April and again in June that it is on the hook for more than the city's newly mandated $17.96 per hour.

DoorDash writes that NYC dashers "will now earn at least $29.93 per hour of active time." The base pay rate for such employees was $7.09 per hour prior to the modification.

Following years of advocacy for greater compensation by labor organizations like Los Deliveristas Unidos and the Worker's Justice Project, there was a salary rise. The Deliveristas highlight the risk of working as delivery drivers in their petition for a wage raise, along with the fact that the costs of doing so may total up to about $17,000 annually.