Save the hating for people that deserve it, like iSIS. Getting down on the USA because Apple searches retail employee bags for stolen merchandise is a bit much. I mean really, in the grand scheme of life this is pretty small potatoes.
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Lawsuit by Apple Retail Employees Over Off-the-Clock Bag Searches Dismissed
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Save the hating for people that deserve it, like iSIS. Getting down on the USA because Apple searches retail employee bags for stolen merchandise is a bit much. I mean really, in the grand scheme of life this is pretty small potatoes.
A lot (but not all) of those are salaried positions and not hourly. That is a different problem.
Also, "Its okay for me to steal from my employees because other companies do to" isn't that great an argument.
If the checks are 30 seconds, make that a standard. If the time is trivial, what is wrong with paying it?
Can you come to work wet if it is raining, or does apple supply an umbrella? How well do your phones sell when your employees aren't allowed to carry them? Does Apple supply a winter coat? In some parts of the country, that can be life threatening. So employees DO need to bring personal effects to work, and everyone knows this. Yes, you can smuggle a phone/watch/ipad out under a winter coat.
Come to think of it, you could smuggle some of those out in a bra. Is Apple going to require anyone with a C-cup go bra-less or expect a search? That should really go over well with their demographics.
It is as simple as this, while being subjected to the search, is it for Apple's benefit or for mine? Apple's. So I am 'working' for Apple while standing in line and being searched. As an hourly worker, I should get paid. That is the definition of hourly work. What I am doing for Apple is irrelevant. This is the "pay you for your time" argument used when they say you work the shift, not the task list.
Then you should avoid working there and stick to your current job, where you can bring a bag and not be searched. This article isn't about whether Apple's policy is great or not. It's about the outcome of a lawsuit. America is the land of the free, and as such your employer is free to decide whether to allow you to bring in a bag and attach perfectly reasonable restrictions to this fringe benefit they're giving you.
12,400 American people seem to think it's a bit more than small potatoes. If Apple is such a wonderful company with so many billions, why don't they just pay the employees for their time, as it should be, in civilised countries anyway.
I don't think you understand the meaning of free, but I understand that, you're American.
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It can be argued that carrying personal effects/items is not a benefit but a necessity.
And being 'socially conscious', as Apple keeps pointing out in their worldwide marketing, I'm truly surprised that this simple understanding of how people function is such an issue.
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Yeah they're socially conscious that's why they put nets around buildings so people wouldn't die when they tried to jump out of the building.
But isn't that the very event that seemed to immediately precede Apple's social 'awakening'? They made great efforts to improve conditions for workers, then went on to publicly support social issues, and publicize their recycling efforts and environmental responsibility. So why not a simple effort to improve retail store work life?
For all who feel the worker is a worthless machine and shouldn't want better conditions, I would remind them that Apple builds and sells products with the philosophy of enriching lives, not dehumanizing them.
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I used to work at an Apple store. No one complained of the checks, and they didn't really take that long. If you had enough seniority there managers usually just let you go with a 2 second check.
It's not wrong at all. No one is forcing you to bring a bag-wagon at work, your busy life is your own problem and you should deal with it accordingly and not expect the company you work for to pay you for the hours/days/moths of time it spends searching your silly elephant belly bags.
You know it is stupid (they know it is stupid) and they will get no where with this.
How is it you manage to take the wrong position on everything? My skin crawls when I see "Kaibelf".
I have worked at 2 Apple stores, and the "bag checking" was never a big deal at all. It added no more than 1 minute to my time there, which included tracking down a manager. The bag-checking itself took no more than 10 seconds. I'm sure part of that is store-dependent, and also because they had no reason to believe I would steal anything. But as a former Apple Store employee, I think it makes total sense that the lawsuit was thrown out.
This is the same supreme court that also ruled that corporations should be legally considered to be people, so they can flood the political system with as much bribe money as they like. So forgive me if I don't have a whole lot of respect for this this particular institution.
There are die-hards out there who will defend Apple to their last dying breath because of a misplaced sense of loyalty. Apple isn't a person or a personality, it's a group of wealthy investors who hire people to extract every last dime they can from their business. They're ruthless about it because of sheer greed. This is just one example of that penny-pinching mentality gone a bit too far. I don't expect Apple to have morals, but the courts should enforce morality, that is their role in our system. But today, the courts are just an extension of corporate America.
Umm...no, they're a bad employer because its a greedy and stupid policy not to pay employees for their time. If Apple is going to act like it's some amazing company to work for, a company that is so much greater than the rest of the retail herd, then they should start acting like it.
Because the employer is forcing the employee to spend a significant amount of time to wait to be searched. A company as big as Apple can afford to pay those extra few minutes. If they won't bother to increase the security of the stores (such as making sure every square inch of the store is covered by an HD security camera), then it's their CHOICE to search employee possessions.
Have no doubt about this, this isn't a moral question to Apple. Apple has become a fortune 500 corporate behemoth with a stunning lack of morals. This is to be expected. But the courts should have ruled that if a company forces an employee to spend a part of their day doing something, the employee should be paid for their time.
The only reason the employees tolerate this nonsense is that massive corporate behemoths like Apple have bribed politicians to, in effect, create a plutocracy of privilege where only the rich have the luxury to be able to afford quitting a job.
Wow.
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Mate , WHILE I have NO issues with YOU defending APPLE on EVERY thread , WHY the AGRESSION?
P.S nah, using words in uppercase does not make my point more valid.... DAMIT!!!
you need therapy, son. seriously.
and you still didn't show me where I said everyone who carries a bag is a loser. are you perhaps a liar who feels he can get away with stretching everything to make his story seem correct.
yep. i stand by my therapy conclusion. and based on the responses to your posts here, it seems like most people agree. ask mommy and daddy to take you to the doctor today, ok?
"So let's stop all the BS about Apple hassling diabetics not being able to have insulin, or people unable to take their medications, etc. The class members were basically all losers who were taking personal effects to work - probably games and magazines - and using their personal effects on company time. I guess they felt "entitled" to do that."
You didn't say that? No worries gramps but I've got a certificate.
I'm sure employees don't care if their bags are checked so it is more of the employers problem. If you make people wait an extra fifteen minutes just pay them for it. Why not?
On another side you as the employer states that we understand that many people need to bring bags to work yet if you do we will need to check them before you leave and it will be on your own time since you require the bag.
No matter what we will lose time when it comes to work. From the comute, getting ready, being early (waiting until we can clock in) etc... Some people may have hour lunch breaks yet would rather half less so they could get their job done sooner. (Just use your phone and enjoy the extra break)
Someone had a point about bathroom breaks etc.. I think there is just a bit of give and take when it comes to work. Every second is not always going to be counted. Now if they are keeping you over half an hour each day then there is an issue.
Part of the job would imply being paid.
On another side you as the employer states that we understand that many people need to bring bags to work yet if you do we will need to check them before you leave and it will be on your own time since you require the bag.
No matter what we will lose time when it comes to work. From the comute, getting ready, being early (waiting until we can clock in) etc... Some people may have hour lunch breaks yet would rather half less so they could get their job done sooner. (Just use your phone and enjoy the extra break)
Someone had a point about bathroom breaks etc.. I think there is just a bit of give and take when it comes to work. Every second is not always going to be counted. Now if they are keeping you over half an hour each day then there is an issue.
Part of the job would imply being paid.
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My point is they need to deal.
If I had the CHOICE to bring a bag that I know is going to be searched, I'd weigh it against the fact that I received extremely great benefits and discounts.
Apple can decide at any time that "ok, we will stop searching bags voluntarily brought into the workplace off the clock, but employees will no longer get deep discounts and will need to adhere to strict dress codes as well as no body art/piercings."
Choose your battles wisely.
A 30 minute wait for a bag check is pretty unreasonable. In my workplace that could lead to me missing my bus home.
If retailers value security of their products they should also respect their staff.
I would suggest that if a worker has to wait more than 5 minutes for a check on their own time then they should be free to go with no consequences.
Retailers would quickly make managers/security available in good time.
If retailers value security of their products they should also respect their staff.
I would suggest that if a worker has to wait more than 5 minutes for a check on their own time then they should be free to go with no consequences.
Retailers would quickly make managers/security available in good time.
Apple wouldn't do that simply due to the fact that it could increase the risk of stock being stolen. You can always say the managers/security could be made to check bags quicker but that's not always possible if the store is busy.
well that would be up to the courts to decide what is reasonable. and apparently here, they decided what Apple was doing was reasonable.
The greedy lawyers were behind this, at most the Apple employee would have gotten a few dollars each, maybe an iTunes gift card, the law firm that tabled this would have made millions. Don't fall for it, the lawyers are only trying to pit employees vs Apple to fool employees!
As a former Apple Retail employee, I can say the policy was only very sporadically enforced by the sheer logistics. A given store might have anywhere from 30-70 employees at a given time all with different breaks and only a few managers. Add to that dozens of customers and it was virtually impossible to enforce. And when enforced, it only took a few seconds. With the potential of employee theft of small, high dollar product, it seemed reasonable. It was the threat that it could happen.
How hard is it to implement a bag check-in area? That way searching bags will not be necessary.