Postmates expands worker protection during COVID-19 surge

An omnichannel delivery platform is increasing its support for on-demand personnel and their families.

According to Postmates, more than 30,000 new businesses have joined its platform in the last few weeks, including 7,000 new drug stores. And in the past month, Postmates has seen an 84% national increase in new workers on its platform.

In response to this surge in delivery demand and personnel, Postmates is providing a cash relief stipend for workers in California and New York through a new program beginning Friday, April 24. Qualifying couriers can apply for a stipend through the Postmates Fleet Relief Fund portal. This further expands the existing Postmates Fleet Relief Fund, which has provided emergency funds for workers to help cover the cost of medical expenses related to COVID-19, personal protective equipment (PPE), and medical expenses, while additionally offering income replacements regardless of diagnosis. 

Postmates is also partnering with telehealth platforms Ro, Doctors on Demand via Stride Health, and Nurx to provide remote COVID-19 screening services, primary and mental health services for non-COVID symptoms, and reproductive and family planning health services. Furthermore, the company is issuing hundreds of thousands of new reusable and single-use masks to couriers. Distribution has begun in the West Coast and East Coast markets, and will continue to gradually scale across national Postmates markets.

Other new resources being offered include a partnership with registered loan agent Womply to help both workers and retail partners apply for federal aid as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act and an educational campaign on accessing state-level Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. Postmates is also scaling access to online digital learning platform edX for certificate courses from universities including Harvard, MIT and IBM, and is partnering with edX and several local providers to enable access to virtual career advising and expert career guidance.

Through the Postmates COVID-19 Resource Portal, Postmates is also providing tools and resources for workers to stay updated on the latest tax and financial assistance available to them. The resource center includes information on how workers can file for unemployment in their state, ways to access financial support for their bills, and how they can benefit from tax credits if they have to miss work or take care of a family member.

Postmates partners with more than 600,000 restaurants and retailers across all 50 states.