Deliverance

Seamless Will Make It Harder for Restaurants to Steal Delivery Workers’ Tips

Seem good?
Seem good? Photo: Seamless

Good news for the city’s hardworking deliverypeople: While it took some arm-twisting by State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office, Seamless has agreed to exclude tips from the bill total when figuring its commission, which typically averages 10 to 15 percent. Up until now, the GrubHub-Seamless share has come off every cent on the check — food, sales tax, any fees, tips — which Schneiderman said is a billing formula that encourages restaurants to “cheat workers out of their hard-earned tips,” similar to the tip-skimming controversy that made headlines last year at the Upper West Side’s Indus Valley.

The agreement requires Seamless to use this revised fee structure with new restaurants that join the service, but current partners have 12 months to sign an updated contract, which apparently was a bit vague on the subject of how gratuities are applied. The contract had a section spelling out that restaurants had to pass along all sales taxes, The Wall Street Journal reports, but “there was no similar language that reinforced their obligations to pass on gratuities, as required by law.”

Seamless Delivers Tip Agreement [WSJ]
Earlier: Delivery Workers’ Lawsuit Against Indus Valley Will Proceed As Planned

Seamless Will Make It Harder for Restaurants to Steal Delivery Workers’