Handy to pay $2.95 million over hidden fines on gig workers

Handy Technologies, the home services app run under the Angi umbrella, has agreed to pay $2.95 million to settle claims from the Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General. The claims say the company quietly fined its workers when customers did not show up, and that its pay promises were misleading.

What workers say happened

A cleaner or handyman would arrive at a job. The customer would not appear, would cancel the wrong way, or would not reply. A fine of $2.50 to $50 was then taken from the worker's next paycheck, often with no warning.

The complaint says the "Customer No Show" process workers had to follow to avoid the fine was unclear and complicated. Workers who wanted to be paid right away after a job also paid a fee, because the default wait for pay was seven days.

The earnings promise

The complaint also covers how Handy advertised pay. The company said workers could make "as high as $45 an hour." Under the settlement, any future earnings claims must be backed by what workers actually earn.

Who gets paid

Checks are going to 62,893 independent contractors who worked on the platform between January 2019 and November 2024. Together they total more than $2.7 million. The FTC began mailing them in July 2026, and recipients had ninety days to cash them. Questions can go to the refund administrator, Simpluris Inc., at 1-833-647-9063.

The average works out to about $43 per person. Some workers will get more, depending on their documented losses. For someone who paid many small fines over several years, a check in the low tens of dollars may not cover what was taken.

What Handy must change

• Get workers' clear consent before charging any fees.
• Explain plainly how workers can avoid penalties.
• Base any earnings claims on what workers really make.

These are basic disclosure rules most people would assume were already in place.

A wider pattern

This is not the first case. In August 2024, the FTC won a $7 million settlement from Arise Virtual Solutions over similar claims of inflated earnings. In 2023, the San Francisco District Attorney's office obtained $6 million from Handy in a case involving California workers. The FTC's 2021 Notice of Penalty Offenses on money-making opportunities warned gig companies about false earnings claims and has been used in several later cases.

What to do

Anyone who works through a gig app should read the fee and cancellation rules before taking jobs. Check whether pay is delayed or costs extra to get sooner. Treat any hourly earnings promise as a claim to verify against what current workers actually make.