A group of employees Apple he led internal surveys about what their colleagues think about hybrid work and also about wage equality. However, according to some employees, the company is now closing these practices, banning employees from doing internal surveys.
Pay parity surveys and hybrid work banned from Apple
As reported by The Verge on Monday, despite Apple having said to don’t have a problem with wage inequality, the company reported of having closed at least three internal surveys of employees who wanted to verify this information themselves.
The first survey asked employees to voluntarily share their salaries e how they identify themselves in terms of race, ethnicity, gender and disability. Apple’s human resources team asked the employees responsible for stop the survey because demographic questions contain “personally identifiable information”.
Earlier this month, another group of employees had to close a new survey because they had questions about gender. The group removed the related questions and then Apple again stopped the survey, this time claiming it was hosted on a business account.
Following all these events, Apple has sent a statement to employees, announcing them which polls are prohibited within the company.
- Surveys as data collection: Surveys are not allowed to be used as a means of collecting identifiable employee data without following the usual process of getting this data from the People team. This includes any questions aboutaddress of an employee, on datthe demographics and so on. The use of surveys as a tool for gathering health information is also prohibited.
- Surveys Requiring Diversity Data: diversity information is highly sensitive personal data. If you need such information, you must work with your I&D Business Partner and the I&D Insights and Solutions team before collecting any data.
Several labor lawyers have argued that Apple might violate the laws protecting workers. They believe that polls can be considered one form of work organization. This means that “employees have the right to discuss pay” under US law.
The survey by Cher Scarlett, an Apple engineer
Two pay transparency surveys have been shut down in the past 6 months at Apple. I won’t be intimidated. We have the right to collect this data amongst ourselves.
There’s a new survey, voluntary and totally anonymous.
The password is my status in Slack.https://t.co/fUr1DZ5Df1
— Cher Scarlett (@cherthedev) August 7, 2021
The Apple engineer, Dear Scarlett, is now doing a new anonymous survey with other Apple employees. This time, the survey is conducted on one outdoor platform. Scarlett says no one wants to blame Apple for a pay gap between employees because of sex or any other aspect.
However, the fact that the company has eliminated the polls makes employees even more suspicious.
Earlier this month, another Apple engineer revealed she was put on administrative leave after complaining on Twitter about sexism at work. At the same time, other employees continue to criticize the company for its own work-from-home hybrid model, which was delayed until October due to new cases of COVID-19 around the world.