These Instacart Workers Want You to Leave Them a 22-Cent Tip

  • Amount is a protest measure as workers claim drop in paychecks
  • Startup made changes last fall to help clarify earnings
InstaCart employees fulfill orders at a Whole Foods store in Los Angeles.Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
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More than 100 of Instacart Inc. workers are calling on customers to support reforming the grocery delivery app’s payment practices -- by leaving them 22-cent tips.

The counterintuitive call for paltry gratuities is meant to seize attention, signal solidarity -- and circumvent what the workers say is a stingy new practice of paying workers less from the company’s coffers if they’re promised more in tips by customers.