New York City Delivery Workers Earn $104 Million More in Tips After Tip Law Enforcement

New York City began enforcing a law requiring restaurant‑delivery apps to present clear tipping options before checkout. The rule, effective January 26, 2026, mandates at least a 10 % selectable tip, a custom‑tip field and an option to leave no tip. Apps such as Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub had previously moved the tip button to post‑delivery, a practice the city said cost workers over $550 million in tips.

City officials report that the enforcement has added roughly $104 million in tips to the earnings of about 70,000 delivery workers, an average annual increase of $2,287 per worker. Average tips per delivery rose from $1.18 to $2.29, essentially doubling. The change has not reduced customer demand; restaurants see weekly order surges of more than 700,000. The law follows a 2023 City Council minimum‑wage ordinance setting a $22.13 hourly floor for delivery workers. Apps challenged the rule in court, but federal judges rejected the challenges shortly before the law took effect. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Sam Levine hailed the results as proof that app design influences tipping behavior.