Apple posts internal memo affirming employees’ right to discuss pay

After months of internal controversy over how much workers make at one of the highest rated companies in the world, Apple has announced that employees have the right to discuss working conditions and pay, according to an employee memo posted by NBC News.

As of 2016, Apple has said its workers in the US get equal pay for equal work. However, attempts by workers to corroborate this claim have been quietly discontinued, according to two current and former employees.

According to the memo, Apple is now announcing to its employees that they have the right to speak about their wages and voice their concerns externally, a big change for the notoriously secretive tech giant.

The note was posted on Apple’s internal employee page, accessible to the company’s 80,000 hourly and US employees.

“Our policies do not prevent employees from freely speaking about their wages, hours, or working conditions,” the memo says. “We encourage every employee who has concerns to address them internally or externally in the way they feel most comfortable, including through their supervisor, an Apple manager, People Support, the People Business Partner or business conduct.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

The language affirms a right granted to private sector workers under the National Labor Relations Act, which allows workers to organize and discuss their working hours and wages.

The memo reflects the language of the Apple Business Conduct Policy, which says that nothing should be construed as “a restriction on your right to freely speak about your wages, hours, or working conditions”.

Apple declined to include similar wording in its employment contracts when asked by a group of activists and shareholders earlier this year. The company said the language was already covered by its business conduct policy, according to tech activist Ifeoma Ozoma.

The memo is a win for Apple organizers like Cher Scarlett, who said in a National Labor Relations Board indictment that the company had curtailed its ability to discuss wages and working conditions by blocking informal salary surveys and a slack channel for pay equity have.

Since August, Apple has been charged with eight unfair labor practices, ranging from wrongful dismissal to harassment. One of these charges was dismissed.

Apple employee Cher Scarlett.Courtesy Cher Scarlett

The NLRB, the federal agency that oversees US labor law, is investigating the remaining seven charges. If found credible, it can force Apple to post a notice similar to the one posted today confirming that workers have the right to speak.

“This is a win for workers because it shows that Apple knows they would have lost if this had been decided,” said Veena Dubal, professor at the University of California’s Hastings College of Law. “But it also highlights how little the law discourages unfair labor practices and how little workers can get if their rights to freedom of association are violated.”

For months, Apple employees have been pushing the lack of transparency about how much people earn.

Apple’s diversity and inclusion page states, “Globally, employees of all genders earn the same when they perform similar tasks with comparable experience and performance.” However, employees who conducted informal salary surveys found potential wage gaps and asked Apple to continue investigate. They say the company didn’t.

The company has also discontinued three employee-conducted pay equity surveys, including rules prohibiting the collection of personal information and conducting surveys on the company’s corporate account.

In September, Scarlett, an Apple software engineer, filed a lawsuit with the NLRB against the company, claiming it retaliated against workers who engaged in sheltered activities when they tried to talk about their pay. She recently settled with Apple and asked the NLRB to withdraw her charges.

“Cher and other brave employees have helped to bring issues of fair wages and transparency to light at Apple,” said her attorney, Aleksandr L. Felstiner, which has not happened before. We hope that the crucial organizational work will continue. ”

Scarlett said she couldn’t talk about the details of their settlement. She also couldn’t comment on whether she plans to continue organizing with #AppleToo, an advocacy group she co-founded.

Janneke Parrish, one of the group’s co-founders, was fired from Apple in October after she deleted files from her work phone during an internal leak investigation. She has also filed an unfair labor practice charge against the company for retaliation against her for organizing.

Parrish said she sees Apple’s latest memo as a huge win for employees.

“What we’ve been saying for months is that workers have rights and that our voices deserve to be heard,” she said. “Apple has made numerous attempts to prevent us from raising our voices and discussing working conditions and pay. This declaration shows that we have a legal right to speak. It also shows the power of the workers’ voices in unison. When we work together and talk to one another, even the biggest companies need to hear us. “

Zoe Schiffer

Zoe Schiffer is an investigative reporter on the NBC News tech investigation team.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/apple/apple-posts-internal-memo-affirming-employees-right-discuss-pay-rcna5777