An open letter, addressed to Tim Cook and the Apple Senior Leadership team, has shined a light on what employees claim is an environment that buries harassment claims and ignores employee privacy.
“Apple prides itself on its commitment to diversity, equity, and an environment where every person is able to do their best work; however, in practice, this is far from the case,” the leader stats.
“Our experiences with the People team in dealing with harassment and discrimination have left many of us more vulnerable.
“Apple’s policies on privacy and device linking also ensure that when we do seek recourse, we risk our personal privacy being invaded. When we seek leave or accommodation through Apple’s mental and physical health partners, we are asked to release broad scope personal medical information to Apple and any of Apple’s agents for a blanket period of two years. Apple prides itself on its privacy policies, yet it feels as workers, our privacy is of no concern.”
The letter claims that “hundreds” of employees have sought recourse only to be ignored.
“Hundreds of us have documented our stories of abuse, discrimination, and harassment. Hundreds of us have documented reporting our stories through internal channels, and receiving no relief. In sharing our stories, we are calling attention to our experiences working at Apple, and how much better we can do.”
The letter puts forward five demands:
- 1. Increased separation between Apple owned and worker owned digital and physical property in all Apple policies.
- 2. Provide transparent livable, equitable, and fair compensation across all of Apple.
- 3. Audit all third-party relationships.
- 4. Hold the People team, Employee Relations, Business Conduct, and Leadership accountable.
- 5. Provide a process for group concerns to be heard with a transparent feedback loop.
“At Apple, we are called upon to do the right thing, and that must extend to how we treat employees,” the letter reads.
“We are reaching out because Apple must fulfill its promise of inclusion, diversity, and equity. We demand an environment where everyone feels safe and welcome and has the promise of equal opportunity and treatment.”
The letter also claims that “Apple Workers are aggressively ‘encouraged’ to sync their personal iClouds to their devices” which it calls “an unacceptable violation of our privacy.”
It asks that personal numbers not be published in the Apple Directory as people have “been harassed on their personal phone numbers as a result of this policy”, and adds:
“Furthermore, ‘no reasonable expectation of privacy’, is a belittling policy that denies all workers the benefit of the doubt, and a sense of safety and trust in the workplace.
“Written policies should reflect that cause is needed and will be provided for any search or seizure, and inform workers of their right to an objective third-party to determine what can be searched to allow for redaction of digital materials.”
