Seattle PayUp Minimum Pay Ordinance FAQs

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.

The easiest way to be sure is by checking the official Seattle City Limits which you can see below or on the Seattle City website linked here.

In general, though, Seattle’s borders are anything: South of 145th Street, coast to coast between Puget Sound on the West and Lake Washington to the East, and North of White Center and Tukwila (the southern boundary is hard to describe - see map).

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

Your right to flexibility means you have the right to decide when you are available and which orders you accept/reject. We have even more protection on this front than ever before! Network companies cannot retaliate against workers who:

• Limit their hours of availability

• Accept or reject any order

• Cancel an order with cause

We’re here to help!

Join our Know Your Rights and PayUp worker meetings. These are for asking questions, sharing information on what’s happening in the gig work world, learning your rights, connecting with other fellow gig workers, and fighting back together!

Feel free to reach out to us anytime at gig@workingwa.org with additional questions.