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Apple must pay store employees for bag-search time, court rules
Apple must pay its retail store employees for the time they spend waiting for mandatory bag searches at the end of their shifts, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The decision is retroactive, but it wasn't immediately clear how much Apple would have to pay.
The decision stems from a class-action lawsuit filed in 2013 by two former workers from Apple stores in New York and Los Angeles that claimed employees at physical locations were required to stand in lines up to 30 minutes long every day for store managers to check their bags to ensure they weren't smuggling home stolen goods. Failure to comply can lead to the employee's termination.
"Under the circumstances of this case and the realities of ordinary, 21st century life, we find farfetched and untenable Apple's claim that its bag-search policy can be justified as providing a benefit to its employees," Supreme Court Judge Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote in the decision (PDF).
[...] "Given that Apple requires its employees to wear Apple-branded apparel while working but directs them to remove or cover up such attire while outside the Apple store, it is reasonable to assume that some employees will carry their work uniform or a change of clothes in a bag in order to comply with Apple's compulsory dress code policy," she wrote.
[...] "Apple may tailor its bag-search policy as narrowly or broadly as it desires and may minimize the time required for exit searches," Cantil-Sakauye wrote. "But it must compensate those employees to whom the policy applies for the time spent waiting for and undergoing these searches."
Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by slinches on Friday February 14 2020, @08:24PM (6 children)
Yeah, the judge couldn't either.
What really has me confused is that I thought Apple was one of those "enlightened" companies that supposed to treat its employees with respect. Instead, they treat their store "geniuses" like they are petty thieves. I worked in retail in the past where they sell small high dollar items and was never subjected to a bag search. If the company can't put enough trust in their own people not to steal, then that's a failure in the management and culture of the company.
(Score: 2) by Aegis on Friday February 14 2020, @11:54PM
This is Retail!
It's enlightened if they don't periodically punch you in the nuts while you're there!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Saturday February 15 2020, @01:09AM (1 child)
Interestingly, those are the very people Apple tells me are absolutely trustworthy when it comes to my valuable data and privacy. So which is it Apple, are they absolutely trustworthy beyond reproach or are they a rabid pack of thieves who just haven;t been caught yet?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 15 2020, @06:49AM
That's why Apple needs to crack down on them to sell you on their hardline discipline. That's how you can trust the damn slimeballs. Pour motiver les autres.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday February 15 2020, @04:55AM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday February 15 2020, @05:20PM (1 child)
What really has me confused is that I thought Apple was one of those "enlightened" companies that supposed to treat its employees with respect. Instead, they treat their store "geniuses" like they are petty thieves.
Apple is just a very hypocritical company that knows how to make a huge profit by lying to its customers and treating them like crap. I have a family member who insists they install OS updates on her phone that intentionally break things, just to encourage her to upgrade to a newer model. I try to tell her to switch to Android phones (they're so cheap on the used market you can easily afford to get a newer one every year for less than buying into the Apple ecosystem) and she just ignores me. Apple is great at building an ecosystem that customers just don't want to bother leaving, even when they know they're being abused.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Saturday February 15 2020, @06:14PM
And turn off both background refresh and internet access to anything you're not using at the moment. Your battery will thank you.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.