If you don’t tip well when your food delivery driver appears with your takeout meal, you may have only yourself to blame if delivery prices rise.
Drivers for the food delivery services GrubHub, Caviar and DoorDash sued their employers earlier this week, according to a Washington Post story. The drivers say that the companies unfairly list them as independent contractors to avoid paying fair wages and providing benefits that would be due to them had they been classified fairly as employees.
Similar class-action suits have been filed recently in other sectors of the sharing economy. A case brought by Uber drivers against the online ride-sharing company was recently certified by a federal judge, allowing that case to proceed.
The companies fear that giving drivers employee status would cripple their bottom line or force them to raise prices, given the costly new expenses including paying for fuel and tolls, providing workers’ compensation and social security payments, establishing retirement funds and offering other benefits.
The issue of jobs versus employment benefits has even entered the Presidential debates, as more Americans are entering the job market as part-time freelancers. Presidential candidates are being asked their views on the kinds of regulations that could make the sharing economy more equitable without harming nascent businesses.