Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been accused by nearly 20,000 of its hourly-wage employees that the companies HR practices are not in sync with the requirements of California law, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Apple allegedly did not abide by the law as far as giving lunch breaks, rest breaks or final paychecks to the employees were concerned.
Lawsuit over breaks and paychecks
The lawsuit related to the breaks and paychecks was filed for the first time in 2011, and the Superior Court of California certified it as a class-action case on Monday. Apple has been accused of deliberately violating the California wage and hour laws by its workers, who get paid their wages based on the number of hours worked. These include employees working at varying capacities ranging from junior engineers to Apple Store employees and call-center representatives.
“Very often workers were not given meal breaks for seven or eight hours, and sometimes not at all,” said the plaintiffs’ counsel Tyler Belong.
Not only this, the company’s policies are designed in such a manner that made its class members fear that even discussing the various labor policies practiced by the company could lead them into trouble as they might be fired, sued or disciplined.
The case, which does not yet seeks a dollar amount in damages, is Felczer v. Apple, No. 2011-00102593 in the San Diego courtroom of California Superior Court judge Ronald Prager.
Other lawsuits facing Apple
In a separate lawsuit, the store workers have filed yet another class-action lawsuit against Apple claiming that a security check is conducted every time a worker enters or exits the store, which takes considerable time, and they do not get paid for that duration for which they keep are kept waiting. The screening lasts for 10-15 minutes every time, and when evaluated in monetary terms, it makes up for $1500 per annum. This suit has been filed in the San Francisco federal court by the ex-Apple retail employees.
A few months back, out of court settlement was reached in a class-action lawsuit filed against the tech industry giants comprising of Apple, Adobe, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC). A massive chunk comprising of about 65,000 employees were affected by the secret pact designed by these companies where they conspired to keep the wages paid to the hourly wage earners at drastically low-levels and intended to stop the firms from hiring and poaching competitively.
