Apple's internal report says that it doesn't stifle employee speech
An internal evaluation of Apple's practices surrounding employee gag orders and arbitration clauses has found the company well within compliance of rules and regulations.
Apple employees have the right to complain, says Apple
A number of employees at Apple have been upset with their working conditions for some time. Apple Stores have begun unionizing, an Australian store is planning a Christmas strike, and employee organizations have been vocal about harassment.
Due to the ongoing strife, and potential for legal action, shareholders requested that Apple produce a report "assessing the potential risks to the company associated with its use of concealment clauses in the context of harassment, discrimination and other unlawful acts." The report released on Friday claims Apple is well within its legal boundaries and, in fact, exceeds what the law requires.
The Business Conduct Policy allows employees to speak freely about wages, hours, and working conditions to include information about harassment, discrimination, or any conduct deemed unlawful. The only restriction on speech is confidentiality agreements around unreleased products and non-public business information.
Apple says that no policy should be interpreted as being restrictive of an employee's right to speak out against the workplace.
Harassment and discrimination issues can be taken to court and are automatically excluded from the employee arbitration agreement. Claims related to wages or overtime and other such workplace issues may still be subject to arbitration.
Apple has also included language from California's Silenced No More Act voluntarily. It is also enforced for every Apple employee in the U.S., regardless of where they work.
Outside counsel reviewed the report and confirmed that it is Apple's global policy not to restrict employees' or independent contractors' ability to speak freely about harassment, discrimination, or unlawful conduct. In some instances, Apple's rules may be interpreted as restricting a person's ability to speak about such conduct, but Apple has committed to not enforcing those restrictions and to make improvements and clarifications going forward.
The report was reviewed and approved by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of Apple's Board of Directors in November 2022.
Read on AppleInsider
Apple employees have the right to complain, says Apple
A number of employees at Apple have been upset with their working conditions for some time. Apple Stores have begun unionizing, an Australian store is planning a Christmas strike, and employee organizations have been vocal about harassment.
Due to the ongoing strife, and potential for legal action, shareholders requested that Apple produce a report "assessing the potential risks to the company associated with its use of concealment clauses in the context of harassment, discrimination and other unlawful acts." The report released on Friday claims Apple is well within its legal boundaries and, in fact, exceeds what the law requires.
The Business Conduct Policy allows employees to speak freely about wages, hours, and working conditions to include information about harassment, discrimination, or any conduct deemed unlawful. The only restriction on speech is confidentiality agreements around unreleased products and non-public business information.
Apple says that no policy should be interpreted as being restrictive of an employee's right to speak out against the workplace.
Harassment and discrimination issues can be taken to court and are automatically excluded from the employee arbitration agreement. Claims related to wages or overtime and other such workplace issues may still be subject to arbitration.
Apple has also included language from California's Silenced No More Act voluntarily. It is also enforced for every Apple employee in the U.S., regardless of where they work.
Outside counsel reviewed the report and confirmed that it is Apple's global policy not to restrict employees' or independent contractors' ability to speak freely about harassment, discrimination, or unlawful conduct. In some instances, Apple's rules may be interpreted as restricting a person's ability to speak about such conduct, but Apple has committed to not enforcing those restrictions and to make improvements and clarifications going forward.
The report was reviewed and approved by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of Apple's Board of Directors in November 2022.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
This is why I prefer not to think of it in terms of my rights, your rights, Apple's rights or AppleInsider's rights. A detailed study of "rights" will never satisfy anyone perfectly. What we all need to do, either on an individual level or corporate level, is to strive for the freest speech possible within the confines of the law. If I want to post under AppleInsider's article/ads about the MS Office license for $29, I should be able to do that, especially since I have purchased two licenses over the past year, for prices higher than that, and I am a satisfied customer. Makes no sense to limit my good comment out of fear some bozo might come along and be a negative idiot.
Freedom is risky but worth it. And that has nothing to do with rights. It's a noble goal we all should shoot for.
There is ME stopping me. I only post in the AI forum under articles. I am not a Forum Dweller. You know the kind. Those folks have thousands if not tens of thousands of posts to their name because they are addicted to a given forum and can't stop themselves. That remains true regardless of bans on comments under particular articles. Who is trying to assist those folks in getting professional help? Seriously, some of these people have so many posts it makes you wonder if they ever go outside and see the light of the sun.
I think it's important for me to say I am not one of those forum dwellers. One can easily see that from my post count in this forum versus how many years I've been here -- since 2006 (which means 16 years, friend!). That proves I post only under articles and limit myself to only meaningful posts. If I was commented under everything, or trying to "be right" perpetually to get the last word, I'd probably have 10,000+ posts to my name by now. But that isn't who I am and isn't what I want.
I simply want freedom to post under more articles if the content prompts me to do so. That is what I mean by "freer speech" in all I've written thus far on the topic. And as I stated previously, in my mind, that has NOTHING whatsoever to do with RIGHTS. It's a goal we all should share, but sadly, as some of you seem to indicate, you couldn't care less about it. That to me is quite worrying. Almost as worrying as people without tens of thousands of posts to their name (i.e., folks who are very much addicted to a forum and really do need to take a break from posting as a result.)