They can see in the app how much a customer will tip on an order and tend to cherry-pick those offers. KERR: Because the pay is unpredictable, DoorDash workers rely on tips. And so that old adage of equal pay for equal work goes out the window. It's, you get paid when you're doing the work that we specify. WELLS: It's not just like you get paid for showing up. Her research found most delivery apps don't compensate workers for wait time. KERR: Katie Wells studies gig work at Georgetown University. KATIE WELLS: My initial take was an eye roll. A scroll through Reddit and Twitter threads for delivery workers includes comments like, it's pointless and a trap. DoorDash started testing the system in several cities last year. The company says couriers can toggle between the different pay options. KERR: DoorDash declined to explain this new pay scheme to NPR and instead emailed a blog post about it. If I were to have an accident, I'm pretty sure that would come out of my own pocket, my own insurance. Miller says this new hourly wage option wouldn't even cover his expenses. And DoorDash workers spend an average of 20 minutes an hour waiting for orders to come in. It's kind of like a grocery store cashier only being paid for when they're ringing up customers. KERR: That's because workers are only paid the hourly rate when they're on a delivery, not when they're waiting to take a new assignment. JIMMY MILLER: It's definitely not worth it. But Jimmy Miller, who's a DoorDash driver in Washington, D.C., says that's hardly the case. The company says it gives workers a better idea of how much they'll make. KERR: DoorDash announced last week that workers can now be paid an hourly rate. WOOD: You could be busting your chops off and still make less than the minimum wage. Sometimes they get $8 for a 30-minute delivery, and sometimes it's only 3. Because the app uses an algorithm to calculate that pay, workers say it's impossible to decipher. KERR: DoorDash pays its workers per delivery, and that amount changes constantly. Some of them are good, and some of them are bad. WOOD: The app feels like a little bit of a game. KERR: And he says DoorDash workers never really know how much money they'll make on a given day. And we're expected to get the food in the same amount of time as we would otherwise. There can be mistakes with restaurants' orders. He's based in New York City and sometimes has to bike long distances. But as NPR's Dara Kerr reports, it is not that simple.ĭARA KERR, BYLINE: Delivery worker Joshua Wood says it isn't always easy to get people food. DoorDash says it's gotten the message, and it's now rolling out a new hourly pay option. They get paid per delivery and often make less than minimum wage. Workers for the food delivery company DoorDash have long said it can be hard to make ends meet.
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