For Immediate Release
Contact Information
Cynthia Santana
Phone: 206-256-5219
Email:cynthia.santana@seattle.gov
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Seattle Office of Labor Standards Reaches $1.5 Million Dollar Settlement with Grubhub
Marking Nearly $14 Million Dollars in Remedies Recovered by OLS from Multiple Employers Since Gig Worker Emergency Ordinances Enacted
Seattle, WA – (October 3, 2023) The Office of Labor Standards (OLS) investigated Grubhub for alleged violations of the Gig Worker Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) Ordinance and the Gig Worker Premium Pay Ordinance.
The company settled the allegations and agreed to pay a total financial remedy of $1,529,078.16 to 4,580 affected workers and $12,461.76 in fines to the City of Seattle.
OLS alleged the company failed to:
- Establish an accessible PSST system for some gig workers who were denied PSST after “toggling” available on the app but did not accept deliveries,
- Provide a monthly notice of PSST balance information to gig workers for a period of nearly twelve months,
- Pay premium pay to gig workers for several days when the law first took effect in 2020, and
- Pay premium pay to some gig workers who performed work in Seattle such as attempting to pick up orders from closed restaurants.
“The Office of Labor Standards has been instrumental in helping workers stand up for our legal rights and obtain what we are legally owed by the companies we work for. Without the enforcement efforts of OLS, workers would have essentially no means of holding these companies accountable,” Greg J., Grubhub worker.
The food delivery network company operates nationwide and has several thousand gig workers in Seattle.
Under the Gig Worker Premium Pay Ordinance and the Gig Worker PSST Ordinance, OLS has assessed over $4 million dollars a year for each full year the ordinances have been in effect.
- OLS assessed $4,024,947.51 in remedies to workers and Seattle in 2023 (to date)
- OLS assessed $4,730,932.27 in remedies to workers and Seattle in 2022
- OLS assessed $4,604,496.48 in remedies to workers and Seattle in 2021
- OLS assessed $465,057.80 in remedies to workers and Seattle in 2020
Since the two Covid emergency ordinances were enacted in 2020, OLS has assessed approximately $13,825,434.06 in remedies, most of which went to workers.
“These settlements come in the wake of Labor Day when we uplift the service of workers and recommit to standing up for their rights. The majority of the remedies from these settlements will go back to workers, reminding us why we need labor standards,” said OLS Director Steven Marchese. “We acknowledge the essential role gig workers play in our city’s economic structure and we are dedicated to aiding them by means of outreach, education, and enforcement of ordinances tailored to gig and app-based workers.”
The Gig Worker Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance went into effect on July 13, 2020, during the pandemic and applied to gig workers of Food Delivery Network Companies (FDNC) and Transportation Network Companies (TNC) of 250 or more gig workers worldwide.
As of January 1, 2023, TNC workers were no longer covered by Seattle’s Gig Worker PSST Ordinance but are covered by a new state-paid sick leave law.
As of May 1, 2023, FDNC workers were no longer covered by the Gig Worker PSST Ordinance but are covered by a new law called the App-Based Worker Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance, which makes permanent many of the rights and obligations under the temporary Gig Worker PSST Ordinance.
Beginning on January 13, 2024, all app-based workers who work at a network company that hires more than 250 workers will be covered by the App-Based Worker PSST Ordinance.
To learn more about Seattle’s labor standards please click here, or call 206-256-5297.
- Help for workers and the public: to ask a question, file a complaint, or provide information, call 206-256-5297, email workers.laborstandards@seattle.gov, or click here to fill out a worker inquiry web form.
- Help for employers, hiring entities, and network companies: for free and private assistance for compliance with Seattle’s labor standards, call 206-256-5297, email business.laborstandards@seattle.gov or click here to fill out an employer inquiry web form.
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