Requires delivery safety training for those who make deliveries for online ordering and delivery platforms within a city with a population of one million or more before such persons can make a delivery.
Summary
This bill would add a new section to the New York Labor Law requiring online ordering and delivery platforms to provide mandatory delivery safety training before a person can make deliveries in a city with a population of one million or more, which in practice primarily applies to New York City. The training must be completed through a website, mobile application, or other effective method, and must be at least three hours long. It must cover vehicle and traffic laws, safe driving behaviors, defensive driving skills, and common risks for new delivery drivers.
The bill also creates a delivery safety training curriculum task force to design the curriculum. The task force would include representatives from city and state transportation agencies, the DMV, delivery workers, delivery platforms, and street safety advocates. Training must be offered at no cost to the worker, provided in plain English and the ten most common non-English languages used by limited-English-proficient residents in New York, and workers must be paid for training time at the greater of $15 per hour or the minimum wage. The comptroller would administer those payments using funds collected from platforms operating in the state.
Impact
The bill would impose new labor and operational requirements on online ordering and delivery platforms, including mandatory pre-delivery safety training, multilingual access, and compensation for training time. It would also authorize the comptroller to administer wage payments for training using funds collected from platforms, shifting some compliance and cost burdens to the industry. In state law, it would add Labor Law section 202-m and create a new framework for training standards and enforcement for delivery workers in large cities.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or votes were provided, so there is no recorded debate or formal vote history to gauge legislative sentiment. Based on the bill text, the proposal appears motivated by worker safety and street safety concerns, and it is structured to include both labor and industry representatives in the curriculum process, suggesting an effort to balance stakeholder interests. The overall tone of the bill is protective and regulatory rather than punitive.
Contention
The main points of contention are likely to be the cost and administrative burden placed on delivery platforms, the requirement that workers be paid for training time, and the use of platform-collected funds to administer those payments. Delivery companies may object to mandatory training before any delivery can be made, while delivery workers and safety advocates are likely to support the measure as a way to reduce crashes and improve knowledge of traffic laws. The inclusion of platform representatives, delivery workers, and street safety advocates on the task force suggests the bill anticipates disagreement over curriculum content and implementation.
Requires third-party food delivery services to verify that limited-use motorcycles operated by workers in the course of making deliveries for such third-party delivery service are legally registered; requires that a third-party food delivery service shall not sell, share, or allow access to such information.
Requires third-party food delivery services to verify that limited-use motorcycles and motor vehicles operated by workers in the course of making deliveries for such third-party delivery service are legally registered; requires that a third-party food delivery service shall not sell, share, or allow access to such information.
Requires owners of multiple dwellings in cities with a population of one million or more to designate a secure, locked, monitored space, accessible only to staff, residents, or delivery people, for packages to be delivered to.