海角大神

Apple Store workers lose effort to be paid for security checks

On Saturday, a federal judge ruled against 12,000 Apple retail workers, saying the tech giant had a right to search their bags after they were off the clock.

Workers at Apple stores in California who participate in mandatory searches of their bags while entering and exiting the tech giants鈥� stores are not required to be compensated for the time spent undergoing the searches, a federal judge ruled on Saturday.

鈥淭he ability to bring a bag into Apple鈥檚 stores is simply an optional benefit with a string attached 鈥� the requirement to undergo searches," wrote聽US District Court Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California.

In a long-running legal battle involving some 12,000 Apple workers, the employees argued the company鈥檚 security policy, which was intended to deter theft and also required searches when employees left for meal breaks, was demeaning.

But Judge Alsup rejected their claims. Citing several other rulings 鈥� including a 2014 Supreme Court involving workers at an Amazon warehouse in Nevada who said they had sometimes waited 25 minutes to go through a security check 鈥� he argued security screenings were not part of the workers鈥� regular duties and shouldn鈥檛 be compensated.

Observers said the decision pointed to an ongoing debate over what is considered part of a regular workday.

"It means that workers at Apple 鈥� as well as other retail stores that have this policy 鈥� can be required to donate time to the company," says Rebecca Smith, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), which advocates on behalf of low-wage workers. "To say that you can choose to bring a bag to work is not leaving any control to workers at all... It means you can鈥檛 bring your lunch, it means you can鈥檛 bring a book to read during your break time, it鈥檚 a false choice to say workers can鈥檛 bring a bag to work."

Lee Shalov, a lawyer for the Apple workers, they were disappointed in the judge鈥檚 ruling and would consider all their options, including the possibility of an appeal.

A spokeswoman from Apple declined to comment.

The employees鈥� claims appeared to have touched a nerve at Apple, where about 30,000 of its 43,000 employees work at Apple Stores, mainly for hourly wages, though some employees are salaried, the New York Times in 2012.

Apple is known for its tightly-knit culture and passionate fan base, but former employees told the Times they often found the pace of the retail jobs grueling.

While hourly wages for the company鈥檚 鈥渟pecialists鈥� are higher than many retail jobs, averaging $15.27 an hour, the wage tracking site PayScale, and workers at the stores鈥� 鈥淕enius Bar鈥� are paid higher wages, employees bring in far more money for the company than in many retail jobs.

In 2011, each Apple worker brought in $473,000 in revenue a year, compared to an average of $206,000 for workers at electronics and appliance stores, the Times reported.

As it made its way through the courts, word of the workers鈥� suit reached the highest levels of the company, with one worker telling Apple head Tim Cook in an e-mail that store managers 鈥渁re required to treat 'valued' employees as criminals,鈥� Reuters .

The company鈥檚 policy requires workers who bring their own Apple devices into the stores to verify that that they own the devices by checking them against a list of serial numbers, according to court documents.

Mr. Cook forwarded the employee鈥檚 e-mail to top human resources executives with the question, 鈥淚s this true?鈥� Any response he received was not included in the court documents.

But Apple defended the policies, saying that employees could choose whether or not to bring the bags to work. At some stores, the company noted, the searches were not required at all.

鈥淎s a Store Leader, I also have a very trusting approach when it comes to employees and my leadership style, which is consistent with Apple鈥檚 positive intent culture,鈥� wrote Bobby O鈥橪eary, the top manager at an Apple Store in Chandler, Ariz., in a court filing.聽

Bag and technology checks were rare at the store 鈥� which has an off-site break room, Mr. O鈥橪eary wrote, noting that they occurred mostly for workers at closing time. The store had also cut back on technology checks after problems updating the large list of serial numbers of employees鈥� devices in a central 鈥淩ed Zone phone.鈥�

When a manager did ask an employee about a bag check, he wrote, it normally took 鈥渁 few seconds,鈥� in contrast to the California workers鈥� claims of long waits.

Judge Alsup鈥檚 decision likely marks the end of the long-running conflict, which began in 2013 with a larger coalition of workers from stores across the country.

After the Supreme Court ruling that the Amazon warehouse workers were not required to be paid for time they spent undergoing security searches, Judge Alsup dismissed two suits but allowed the California Apple workers to continue their class action suit under state laws in July.

But he , requiring them to agree that they had brought the bags to work voluntarily, for personal reasons.

Judge Alsup also acknowledged that some workers could have brought bags containing medications or other disability accommodations and offered the workers a chance to pursue a separate claim under that situation. No one took up his offer, he wrote in Saturday鈥檚 ruling.

Ms. Smith of NELP said the courts have been actively debating the issue of workers' hours. She said Judge Alsup's decision was somewhat of a surprise coming on the heels of a last week between three Amazon warehouse workers and the temp agency that required them to submit to mandatory security screening.

"Since the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision, the question of compensation for hours worked and what time can be considered hours worked has really gone into a tailspin in the courts," she says.