Apple gives retail employees T-shirt, keepsake credo for holidays
Apple on Friday presented its retail workforce with the usual annual holiday gift, this year consisting of a special edition gray T-shirt and keepsake card onto which the company's corporate credo is printed.
On the front of the tee are two concentric circles made up of what looks to be a list of Apple's global brick-and-mortar store network, reports MacRumors.
Alongside the shirts, employees around the world received a copy of Apple's new six-stanza corporate credo printed on heavy card stock paper. The keepsake letter comes in its own protective envelope, itself emblazoned with an Apple logo.
The holiday gift giving exercise has become somewhat of a tradition at Apple. Last year, employees received a pair of urBeats headphones and a 9-month subscription to Apple Music, while previous holiday bonuses include Incase backpacks, sport bottles, blankets and other paraphernalia.
Apple is known to hold its retail workforce in high esteem, but the company was recently hit with a series of class-action lawsuits alleging mistreatment that resulted in lost wages. In 2009, for example, a group of California retail workers filed a class-action lawsuit arguing time spent complying with anti-theft measures, namely employee bag checks, is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act. A federal judge dismissed that case last year.
More recently, Apple this week was saddled with a $2 million penalty as part of a separate class-action suit that accused the company of running afoul of California's labor laws. Specifically, plaintiffs alleged Apple failed to compensate workers for missed meal and rest periods, furnish accurate itemized wage statements and pay out ending employment wages.
On the front of the tee are two concentric circles made up of what looks to be a list of Apple's global brick-and-mortar store network, reports MacRumors.
Alongside the shirts, employees around the world received a copy of Apple's new six-stanza corporate credo printed on heavy card stock paper. The keepsake letter comes in its own protective envelope, itself emblazoned with an Apple logo.
The holiday gift giving exercise has become somewhat of a tradition at Apple. Last year, employees received a pair of urBeats headphones and a 9-month subscription to Apple Music, while previous holiday bonuses include Incase backpacks, sport bottles, blankets and other paraphernalia.
Apple is known to hold its retail workforce in high esteem, but the company was recently hit with a series of class-action lawsuits alleging mistreatment that resulted in lost wages. In 2009, for example, a group of California retail workers filed a class-action lawsuit arguing time spent complying with anti-theft measures, namely employee bag checks, is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act. A federal judge dismissed that case last year.
More recently, Apple this week was saddled with a $2 million penalty as part of a separate class-action suit that accused the company of running afoul of California's labor laws. Specifically, plaintiffs alleged Apple failed to compensate workers for missed meal and rest periods, furnish accurate itemized wage statements and pay out ending employment wages.
Comments
(Or maybe it's not all? One would hope. I just wanted to say the above, lolz.)
And, especially, thanks for the job!".
that would be my approach.
I got a gift voucher which got me a really nice pair of shoes, a highly rated bottle of red wine and and a degustation at a highly regarded restaurant. Give gifts by all means, but a t shirt and a christmas card?
The point of giving a gift is to show appreciation and how much they value you. Giving something that cost you a few cents to make in China is more of a slap in the face than anything. It would be the equivalent of your boss stopping you in the hall and giving you a penny and words of wisdom (don't eat yellow snow) then expecting you to be oh so appreciative. I would rather them say "sorry, we aren't giving out Christmas bonuses any more" then this read between the lines message they just doled out to their employees.
"Short term profit maximisation at the expense of the most loyal customer base on the planet"
maybe?
http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2016/12/applecredogift.jpg
For any fans of British sci-fi comics.
Nominal gifts like this so counterproductive and make people think even less of the company giving them but on the good side they will probably sell well on eBay.
Mmm...
Reminds me of this:
So I'm thinking Apple gets a multi-cultural pass here, and the people expecting a gift or one of a certain level are in the wrong. Right?
Also Apple didn't have as good of a year compared to last, and haven't there been a few prominent Apple bloggers complaining about the retail store experience? If Apple feels retail employees are lacking, why give them gifts? Maybe a reminder of the bigger picture of the entire organization they work for on a shirt, and a refresher of the mission statement is a better message to your staff?
But sure, give them all expensive gifts for Christmas regardless, because of that Christian message Apple routinely expounds... oh wait...