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Legal consequences due to incorrect payment
On April 4, 2022, former Apple employee Raven Ramos filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all Apple employees in upstate New York “who perform or have performed manual labor as part of their employment.” Ramos worked at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue between October 2010 and January 2018. The reason for the lawsuit is that the tech group violated applicable labor laws. Under New York law, employers are required to pay their employees weekly. An exception to this applies only if there is express approval from the representative of the responsible Ministry of Labor, which allows half-monthly payment. According to the lawsuit, the iPhone manufacturer illegally only pays its employees every two weeks.
The lawsuit alleges that about 25 percent of the tasks that Ramos completed were manual labor, AppleInsider reports. These tasks included, for example, “working in the sales room, unpacking products, emptying cash registers and supporting customers”. According to the lawsuit, Ramos was harmed by Apple’s failure to pay weekly wages because “she was temporarily deprived of money owed to her” and “lost the time value of that money.”
Regarding the claims of the at least 100 class plaintiffs against Apple, it is proposed that they may recover “the amount of their untimely wages as liquidated damages” and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs and interest before and after the judgment. The total claim was not specified in the lawsuit, but is likely to be more than five million US dollars.
New York Apple employees want to form a union
Also in New York City, workers at Apple’s flagship store in Grand Central Terminal are planning to unionize in preparation for a possible industrial dispute with the tech giant. The organizers of this venture call themselves Fruit Stand Workers United (FSWU).
“Year after year, the cost of living in New York City has not kept pace with our wages. At the same time, Apple has risen to become the most valuable company in the world. [] We want a say when it comes to what our salary is, what benefits we receive, what career opportunities we have and how secure our job is,” the organization explains on its website.
Workers are seeking representation through Workers United, which has already overseen successful union efforts at some Starbucks locations in the US. FSWU is currently collecting signatures from staff, as can be seen on the website. An Apple spokesman told CNBC that the company offers “very good pay and benefits” to both full-time and part-time employees. “We are fortunate to have incredible retail associates and appreciate all they bring to Apple.”
E. Schmal / Editor finanzen.net
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