Highlights:
• Apple make changes in the working hours of retail workers to push towards unionization
• The minimum time between shifts will be increased to 12 hours
Apple Inc. will make work schedules for retail workers more flexible as part of a push toward unionisation. A request for comment from Reuters was not immediately returned by Apple. Last week, the iPhone maker told Reuters that its U.S. employees will be paid at least $22 per hour.
Some current and former employees of the Cupertino, California-based company, which is known for its reserved culture, criticised the company’s working conditions online last year. Workers at Apple’s Atlanta store filed a petition for a union election in April, hoping to become the company’s first U.S. store to do so amid a wave of labour activity at other major corporations.
Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp announced on Thursday that it will not oppose employee unionisation efforts because it recognises their legal right to form or join a union.
According to employees, the company is planning the following changes:
• There will be a minimum of 12 hours between shifts, up from the current minimum of 10 hours.
• Employees can work past 8 p.m. on a maximum of three days per week, unless they choose to work late shifts.
• Employees will not be scheduled to work more than five days in a row, as opposed to the previous limit of six days.
• There may be exceptions during the launch of a new product or during holidays.
• Each six-month period, full-time employees will be eligible for a dedicated weekend day off.
Some of the changes are expected to take effect in the coming weeks, while others may not arrive until later in the year, according to the employees.
