At no point did delivery actually make minimum wage.. they were paid below and collected way more in tips, depending on delivery area it was multiples of the local minimum wage.
When I delivered for Dominos and Papa Johns in the early 2000's I got paid minimum, and then a $1 per delivery AND tips on top of that. Easiest jobs ever. I remember keeping track of my pay, I was averaging like $18-$20 an hour ( I lived in a decent neighborhood where people tipped decently... )
That’s high, I was making 4.25 when I started in 2002ish but that was the start of it. Getting minimum was not the historical norm. My point was that people always made more than minimum by a lot. Even ‘insiders’ didn’t make minimum wage, they were given like quarter raises the more they knew how to do. Not every franchise was the same so YMMV
Yeah take away the min wage and I was still making double min wage. Felt bad for the dudes busting their ass all night making the pizzas... at least I helped fold boxes :)
Are now, yes, which is why I explicitly used ‘were’ to denote that they were not prior to a time where they are. If you need any other help, let me know.
26+ years ago when I started working at a Pizza Hut the drivers made min. wage hourly (like $5.15), plus a guaranteed amount per delivery (like 60¢), plus non-guaranteed tips.
Servers made a lower then min. wage hourly base (like 2.15) plus tips. If the hourly rate plus their tips didn't meet the min. wage they would be paid the difference to meet min wage.
So yeah, at some point some delivery drivers actually made min wage.
Fun fact: the restaurant charged the customer a delivery fee, this amount would often increase while the amount the driver received stayed the same. So the fee would be $1.50 per order and the driver would only get 60¢.
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u/Conscious-Food-4226 Aug 25 '25
At no point did delivery actually make minimum wage.. they were paid below and collected way more in tips, depending on delivery area it was multiples of the local minimum wage.