Shipt
- Delivery service Shipt is reportedly pausing operations in Seattle next month.
- Target-owned Shipt will pause service days before new pay and sick time laws take effect in the city.
- The ordinances are part of a push for more legal protections for gig workers in major US cities.
Target-owned delivery service Shipt is pausing service in Seattle next month, days before new legal protections for gig workers take effect.
Shipt plans to pause service in Seattle on Jan. 10, the Seattle Times reported Wednesday. Three days later, gig workers like the ones Shipt employs will be subject to two new city ordinances: One requires Shipt and other services to pay drivers the equivalent of Seattle's $17.27-per-hour minimum wage, while the other mandates one day of sick leave for every 30 days of work in the city.
Shipt confirmed the suspension of its services in Seattle to Business Insider.
Customers who have annual and monthly memberships to Shipt are eligible to get a refund based on the amount of time that they have remaining, according to the Seattle Times.
The delivery service's decision comes the same month as an appeals court ruled that food delivery gig workers in New York City have to be paid a $17.96-an-hour minimum wage, according to the New York Post.
In October, Shipt laid off 3.5% of its corporate workforce, AL.com reported at the time. While owned by Target, Shipt also offers delivery from other retailers, including Petco and CVS.
Seattle is also home to two of the nine stores that Target announced it was closing in September, citing crime in its stores.
But neither store was notable for crime based on police call records examined by the Seattle Times.
Do you work for Shipt and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@insider.com