Seattle report says gig worker pay law is working, countering claims by DoorDash and Uber

Seattle's Office of Labor Standards (OLS) has released a comprehensive report asserting that the city's contentious gig worker minimum payment ordinance is successfully boosting worker earnings and maintaining order volume. This finding directly challenges long-standing claims by major delivery platforms like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Instacart, which have argued the law negatively impacted drivers and consumers.

For over two years, Seattle's ordinance, which mandates minimum pay rates for app-based delivery workers, has served as a significant labor policy experiment across the nation. The city's new report, based on an extensive dataset, aims to provide a definitive assessment of the law's impact.

The report analyzed data from the five largest delivery platforms, encompassing 92,000 workers and 15 million offers over the 18 months since the ordinance took effect in January 2024. It concludes that the policy has led to increased worker compensation and sustained demand, according to James Parrott of The New School, who praised it as an example of "thoughtful public policy."

OLS Findings: Higher Pay, Steady Demand

Among the report's principal findings, the average "pay for time online”—a comprehensive metric accounting for all logged-in hours, mileage, and expenses—rose to $15.98 per hour. This marks a substantial increase from pre-ordinance estimates, which were as low as $3.17, as stated in the OLS findings.

Contrary to industry assertions of a significant drop in demand, weekly completed offers actually grew by 3.2% during the same period. The report also noted a shift in compensation structure, with base pay now forming the majority of worker earnings as tips and bonuses constitute a smaller share, partly due to companies adjusting their apps post-ordinance to discourage tipping.

While companies added "Seattle regulatory fees" that averaged 19.3% of total order payments, demand continued to increase despite these added costs to consumers. The ordinance itself does not impose these fees, which were implemented by the platforms.

Industry Rebuttal and Data Discrepancies

Delivery giants such as DoorDash, Uber, and Instacart, along with industry-backed organizations, have consistently contended that the law resulted in fewer orders, decreased driver pay, and higher costs for consumers. A Carnegie Mellon study, published as an NBER working paper, previously echoed these concerns, utilizing data from a third-party driver app.

In response to the OLS report, a DoorDash spokesperson maintained that the law "failed to deliver for Dashers" and "devastated local businesses," citing millions in lost sales. The company claimed its Seattle drivers saw their hourly earnings on the app decline by more than 20% in 2024 compared to 2023, with a nearly 25% drop by the third quarter of 2025.

DoorDash further highlighted that Seattle consumers face the highest delivery fees nationwide, exceeding those in comparable cities like Denver, Portland, and San Francisco by more than 3.5 times. The company also reiterated the Carnegie Mellon study's conclusion that increased base pay was offset by fewer deliveries and reduced tips.

OLS Addresses Critiques and Future Steps

The OLS explicitly refutes these earlier analyses, including the Carnegie Mellon study, asserting they relied on incomplete or "self-selected" data. The Carnegie Mellon research, for instance, used data from Gridwise, an earnings-tracking app, covering approximately 3,700 workers—a sample representing only about 4% of the workforce included in the city's broader report.

Acknowledging some limitations, the OLS report notes the absence of pre-ordinance baseline data directly from the companies' submissions. Additionally, privacy safeguards prevent the OLS from tracking individual workers across multiple platforms, potentially leading to an undercount of actual hours worked by multi-app drivers.

Looking ahead, the OLS plans to regularly analyze quarterly data from these companies, extend its research to include smaller delivery platforms, and conduct qualitative studies with workers to gain a deeper understanding of their experiences under the new law. The debate over the true impact of such regulations on the evolving gig economy is clearly far from over.

FAQ

Q: What is Seattle's gig worker pay law?

A: Seattle's gig worker pay law, enacted in January 2024, is an ordinance requiring app-based delivery companies to pay their workers a minimum wage for all logged-in time, accounting for mileage and other expenses.

Q: How do DoorDash and Uber's claims differ from Seattle's report?

A: Delivery platforms like DoorDash and Uber claim the law has led to reduced driver earnings, fewer orders, and significantly higher costs for consumers. Seattle's OLS report, however, states that worker pay has increased, order volume has grown, and demand has remained steady.

Q: What data did Seattle's Office of Labor Standards use for its report?

A: The OLS report utilized comprehensive data that the five largest delivery companies are legally required to submit, covering 92,000 workers and 15 million offers over the 18 months since the law's implementation.