PayUp
Organized people beat organized money
Seattle gig workers successfully organized for the right to minimum wage and other protections in 2022.
What Seattle gig workers won
Despite intense retaliation from corporations like DoorDash, Instacart, and UberEats, gig workers organized and won:
A pay floor
Gig workers established a minimum pay floor of at least minimum wage for every hour worked with an active job with tips on top, plus the cost of mileage and other expenses paid by contractors.
Deactivation protections
Gig workers wrote and won a policy to protect each other from unjust deactivations – giving us transparency, safeguards, and human review to resolve AI-driven account deactivations and get us back to work.
Transparency
Companies must now provide the info gig workers need up front on each offer and a detailed breakdown of work, including time, miles, pay, and tips — so we know what our pay really comes out to and what’s worth it.
Paid sick & safe time
Gig workers fought for and won the right to take care of ourselves and our families during the pandemic. After the period of emergency, we were able to win this right permanently.
Seattle gig workers on how the minimum wage law is WORKING
Wei“I’ve been a gig worker for years. This ordinance has increased my pay. We are now compensated for time and miles. I was in every step of this policy. We cannot allow corporations to prioritize profits over the wellbeing of the worker.”
Talisha“I can say personally since the payup policy was implemented a month ago, I’m already seeing improvements in my life. And the biggest being that I paid my rent on time this month. And that is something that has been a challenge for some time.
Gig worker updates
Thanks to nonstop worker organizing, UberEats will be paying back nearly $4.4 MILLION to over 14,000 delivery drivers.
The PayUp gig worker protections in Seattle are working. The Five Big Delivery Apps’ Own Data Shows Gig Worker Pay & Consumer Demand Are Both Up Since The Minimum Pay Ordinance Went Into Effect.
FAQs about the Seattle app-based worker minimum pay ordinance
You should be paid at least the GREATER of these three options:
The guaranteed app offer
OR (engaged minutes x $0.44) + (engaged miles x $0.74)
OR a base pay of $5
The mileage and minute amounts are tied to an index that will be updated yearly – look for an update around November each year.
“Engaged minutes” includes all the time involved in the job — driving from your location when you accepted the order to the pickup location, shop / wait time, and dropping it off.
“Engaged miles” includes all the miles involved in the job, including driving to the pickup location and to the dropoff location.
No! Tips are ALWAYS on top of your order’s offer. Your tip cannot be added to an offer to meet the minimum wage requirement. Any tip is considered on top of the minimum wage requirement, and you get to keep it!
You also have the right to clear information about the company’s tip policy. The apps must say if it allows customers to tip in advance and whether customers can modify or remove tips after the work is finished.
If a job begins in Seattle but ends in another city, you will still earn the full Seattle minimum pay under the ordinance.
If a job begins outside of Seattle and ends within Seattle, only the engaged mileage and minutes worked within the Seattle boundary will be covered by the ordinance.
If the job takes you through Seattle but does not include stops there (i.e., starts in Tukwila and ends in Lynnwood) you will not receive the Seattle minimum pay.
If you have accepted an order but need to cancel it, you have the right to cancel any order “with cause.”
“Cause” would include:
- The order providing “substantially inaccurate information” (Delivery requires 8 flights of stairs, order includes items that are too heavy to carry, incorrect address)
- Customer is unavailable
- Unforeseen obstacle/occurrence (think acts of god – flood, snow, car breaking down, car accident, ect.)
- Good faith allegation of sexual harassment and/or discrimination
There will be a period of time where the app will review your cancellation and decide whether or not the order was canceled “with cause.” During that time, you CANNOT be deactivated.
It’s important to note that these are things that will require a lot of documentation to confirm. Be diligent with all documentation when canceling an order with cause.
Your right to transparency means Network companies must provide or make sure a customer provides the worker with:
- Estimate of engaged time and engaged miles (estimated length of time a worker will be engaged in an order and an estimated distance in miles a worker will engage with an order)
- The guaranteed minimum payment
- Amount of any tip customers have said they’ll pay
- The names of businesses where the order requires a stop
- Information about the physical labor required (e.g. weight of the goods, flights of stairs)
- Information about certain unsealed contents of online orders
Are you covered by the recent Uber Eats settlement?
In August 2026, OLS announced that nearly $4.4 million will be returned to over 14,000 workers for Uber Eats violations of the Minimum Payment Ordinance. Read the press release.
