“IT workers at Apple are subject to conditions resembling indentured servitude and, in violation of California state law, are denied required overtime pay and meal benefits, a lawsuit filed Monday against the computer maker alleges,” Paul McDougall reports for InformationWeek.
“David Walsh, who worked as a network engineer at Apple from 1995 until last year, was routinely forced to work more than 40 hours per week, missed meals, and often had to spend evenings and entire weekends on call without receiving an extra dollar of pay, according to the suit,” McDougall reports.
“Walsh’s attorneys contend that he, and other Apple IT workers, were purposefully misclassified as management by the company so it could avoid paying them overtime rates that California legally requires for nonmanagement personnel and also to avoid lawsuits,” McDougall reports.
“The attorneys are asking the judge to grant class status to all of Apple’s California IT workers, including those who are dispatched to perform support functions at Apple retail stores,” McDougall reports. “If successful, the suit could cost Apple big bucks. IBM was forced to shell out $65 million in 2006 to settle a similar case brought on behalf of 32,000 tech workers at the company.”
More in the full article here.
Good Gawd Almighty, can anybody read that?
Ok, all i could understand was “GET A……START OVER.” Sheesh!
MacSheikh,
Same here. It gives me a headache.
What a load of shit. The long hours are a part of the IT industry as a whole. If you want a 9 to 5 job don’t go into IT or medicine, or law, or basic science research, or really any professional job. Period.
It was a bitch to work long hours, I worked many jobs 65 to 80 hours a week when I was younger. What did it get me, the work ethics to start my own business over 10 years ago, grow it into a business I can hire employees that have joined our company fully prepared that they know long hours are part of IT. This is the reason so many jobs get outsourced from this country. No work ethics to speak of. How many hours a day did he browse the web, how many systems did he buy from Apple at a discount, how much training did he get in those 12 years, and honestly if it was so bad he had *12* years to find a new job. That means he was there pre .com fall-out, he was there during the dark years of 1996-1997 when we are surprised Apple pulled out of. 12 years is a long time to now claim abusive practices by your ex-employer, and more than 2 1/2 years after CA changed the law, which now that he does not work at Apple any more he probably just learned about… nice. Worst case, Apple will only be held liable for the past 2 1/2 years since the law went into effect even for people that “claim” to have been abused for 12 years. What a loser, if its too expensive for you to live in CA, MOVE! There are a lot of tech areas in the US that have MUCH better cost of living. Where you live and where you work in this country is your own choice, its not forced on you by the government, or your employer… Whiner.
This sort of story and the related comments (here on MDN and other sites) exemplifies how a lot of people just accept what they are told, read or hear as truth incarnate.
It is farcical.
The web has empowered us with the capacity to respond almost immediately to stories, articles, news or … “items of interest”, however, this ability is often achieved without first giving any clear thought or understanding to the veracity of the report or an understanding of the subject matter, topic, issue, question or concern at hand.
Fundamentally, the nature and particulars of EACH and EVERY subject matter, topic, issue, question or concern are intrinsically idiosyncratic, anomalously pertinent and inherently disparate.
Therefore, IMHO pontificating on any given subject matter, topic, issue, question or concern, without establishing and concluding all the relevant aspects and particulars – is conjecture – or in plain terms – it’s Bullshit!!!
In short – Don’t gob off about about stuff you know zip about. Which is why I don’t comment on tech issues, even though I am a senior tech op … just not in the immediate world of computers.
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The above article, citing that a division of Apple IT smacks of a Dickensian “sweatshop” (my interpretation of the “indentured servitude” hyperbole) may be true or it maybe FUD, but without knowing the actualities, I would not offer an opinion fait accompli.
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Paul McDougall reported that “David Walsh, who worked as a network engineer at Apple from 1995 until last year, was routinely forced to work more than 40 hours per week, missed meals, and often had to spend evenings and entire weekends on call without receiving an extra dollar of pay, according to the suit,”
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… was “routinely” as opposed to .. was “expected to”.
… “forced” as opposed to … “asked”
… missed “how many” meals?
… “often” as opposed to … “sometimes”.
If Apple are guilty, then … Book ’em Danno, thro’ the book at ’em.
If they are guiltless, make it known so and sing it from the heavens.
Rant over … resuming normal apathetic programming … Apathetic, as I’ve been at work since 0400 hrs.
Hmm … Pontificate –
blabbing on and on and on without and regardless of the facts.
Not only in regard to this immediate story but on so many others over the recent years – We do.
Wow. So many Americans so eager to go down on their monopolistic corporations and fellate them. Freaking idiots. Wake up and realise you’re a tool of corporate power. They ain’t sharing those record profits with you, and they’re NOT putting them into to the public system through taxes. In fact, when they screw up and go bankrupt, the government bails them out and YOU pay for it.
It’s a socialist system all right; socialism for the wealthy, and free market tough love for the poor. Good luck with defending your overlords as they rip you off over and over again.
Impressed by the number and scale of idiots on thi …….,
I don’t know how long and insulting your title is since you ran out of room.
Next time just use ‘Ralph Nader’. It’s quicker.
SKY LARK,
“Rant over … resuming normal apathetic programming … Apathetic, as I’ve been at work since 0400 hrs.”
So all of that was on your employer’s dime?
You know, I reckon CEOs need laws and unions to PROTECT them, too! Why should all those sourpuss blue collars get all the union kickbacks and Marxist zealots to defend them?
Maybe it’s time Steve sequestered himself into his own ‘Galt’s Gulch’!
Why is it that anyone with half a brain cell continues to exclusively blame Apple for partnering with ATT? To start any discussion along these lines on that premise always makes Apple look soley responsible. But make no mistake, cellular providers are control freaks, and they have no intention of letting the likes of SJ have any control whatsoever. I have little doubt that finding a service provider that would distribute the iPhone put SJ in a place he rarely finds himself – Not in total control.
For those of you who are here commenting “I work 80 hours a week without O.T. and lunch breaks, yadda yadda, and I’m just fine with that”. Well, good for you suckers. If you feel your skills and services are worth a lower hourly rate, then you DESERVE to be a slave. The rest of us don’t OWE our companies an ounce of anything beyond our terms of employment. If I end up working on a vacation, I insist on comp time. Period. Because I VALUE my skills and don’t just hand them over like a wimp to my corporate masters. And, being salaried, the more I work on MY time, the lower my hourly rate falls, meaning my services are DE-VALUED the MORE I work. Screw that.
Not only that, but whether you are salaried or not, there are still labor laws, such as limited breaks every few hours (depending on the state), comp time requirements, O.T. requirements, etc. If you’re too dense to understand the labor requirements of your state, or too scared to speak up, or you just enjoy being raped by your company, then that’s your problem. Enjoy your heart attack in five years.
“…missed meals, and often had to spend evenings and entire weekends on call without receiving an extra dollar of pay”
Oh noes. Not entire weekends on call! ENTIRE weekends!!
I was on a pager rotation for two years in an IT position. Evenings and entire weekends. And the occasional holiday. With no extra pay. It was considered to be factored into the salary of the position. This is just something that comes with the territory.
Does it suck to be sometimes woken up by a call at 3:00 am from someone in Asia? Sure. Does it suck to not be able to go party with friends because someone might call? Sure (although there are ways around this, especially with the increasing pervasiveness of Internet access in almost any location). Does that mean you’re being mistreated? I don’t think so.
I don’t know California employment law, but unless Apple seriously misrepresented the expectations of his position, I think this guy needs to get over it and move on.
Hem Rage:
Don’t be too hard on them – they are brainwashed, simply put. They’ve been taught from an early age to believe that it’s good when corporations and the wealthy have a lot of money, and it’s “oppression” when the poor who work for them make demands that they share it. In their minds, they think their world will be better when they have less.
It’s an amazing trick that has been pulled on the people of the USA. It’s almost like magic. Up becomes down and down becomes up. Give more money and tax breaks to rich people, and then all the poor people are richer! Less means more!
Look, if you people would just think about it for a second, maybe you’d realise there’s no real reason you’re defending corporations for taking advantage of the public. It’s a knee jerk automatic reaction that’s been programmed into you.
If you don’t believe me, look it up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays
This is one of the founders of the modern PR movement, an American. And that’s almost 100 years ago. They’ve had a lot of time to improve.
Seriously, what has the corporate oligarchy ever done for you? Has it made you richer? No, it’s made you poorer. Has it improved your quality of work? No, it’s made it much worse. So, why are you so bent on irrationally vindicating and rationalising a company that you don’t own, and don’t know any of the people making all the money off it? Are the executives your friends? Would they even dare eat dinner at your place? No, they despise you. You’re their grunts, their servants. You have to be taught to keep in line, to behave yourselves, and when a servant talks back to his master, they deserved to be punished.
In 1989 Exxon spills oil in an Alaskan coastline, devastating your environment. The courts hand down a $6 billion dollar punishment. In 2008, they still hadn’t paid it. In fact, in 2008, they got a court to reduce it to $500 million. This from a company that made $40 billion in profit last year. $40 billion in profits and they still refuse to pay up $6 billion in damages. And there are probably a good number of you who will be quite eager to defend Exxon, say it was an accident, $6 billion is too much, etc..
Ask yourself why you defend them. Have you really thought about it?
Impressed by the number and … ,
You are so right. I’ve read about this before. We really don’t even realize it. I learned a long time ago not to trust my employers, because when push comes to shove, they will cut your throat to cover their own asses.
If you object to the status quo in this country, you are a socialist. They like to use that word as a condemnation, since many people believe it’s the same as communism.
We really are gullible.
It boils down to this – don’t like the deal you have? Cope with it, or look for a place more suited to your tastes!
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That’s certainly true, but what is the point of having labor laws like these if they’re not enforced? Regardless, it’s baffling to me why a large company with a lot to lose like Apple would take a stupid risk like this. With as many workers as they do, and being as big of a target as they are, they’re not going to get away with violating labor laws en mass. But I guess we’ll have to wait to see if they did really do what they’re accused of.
Nick from Avvo
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