Live data from Hacker News

Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

latimes.com

271–280 of 359 posts

Re: Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

#271
post #213
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and get it tossed out of the UPS truck as it does a slow drive-by your address.

Anything worth over $500 is going to automatically require a signature on delivery, so little chance it’ll just get tossed off the truck.

Hah. About half the Signature Required deliveries I've received from Apple (and Dell, to be fair) at my home... haven't.

Re: Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

#272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about in the US, but in Canada, I used to work at Forever 21—a California-based retail chain—and you are required to go through a pat-down right before you leave the store. You'd have to look for a manager, and ask them to escort you to the front of the store, and have them pat you down.

Wow. The only time I ever had to go through something like that was working for Ferraro/TicTac in Brantford during the summer when I was a student. We would have our lunch bags randomly searched as we passed through the outer security gate on our way to parking. Bloody TicTacs. They would leave snacking items or seconds in the break room for people to eat if there were any—just don’t walk off the lot with a half pack…

My brother worked at a Cadbury chocolate factory for a while. They had a "take as much as you want, whenever you want, for personal/immediate family" policy.

That was because they discovered that most people, after a week or two of free-for-all binging never wanted to eat another bar of chocolate in their life, and so the company's costs were near zero.

Re: Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

#273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They probably get paid on commission for walk-in sales. I’ve seen other stores appropriate internet orders to make a sale. From the salespersons perspective they don’t have much to lose.

Apple retail employees aren’t paid on commission AFAIK. Flat rate whether you buy an iPad or a $15k Mac Pro. The theory was to avoid the “grandma got talked into a multi thousand dollar computer and a billion accessories she didn’t need because that’s how the employee gets the most money.

Yeah I got jipped at AT&T with a bunch of add-ons which were not explained and ended up with like three lines. Flat rates are the way to go but something has to be done about issues like employees conspiring.

Re: Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

#274

>The court’s decision is retroactive. This seems like a pandora's box. If the employees are already off the clock to endure this delay for the searches, how will they be able to show how much time was lost in a way that would be worthy of a payment?

I'm sure apple can afford it

Re: Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

#275
post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google and Microsoft are doing pretty well.

they dont have a ton of low skill store employees

Indeed, agreed. There's lots we can say about why companies do or do not make money, but it's not as simple as:

> You don't get to be the richest company in the world by paying your workers well.

Re: Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

#276
post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a bit more transparent, but won't make much of a difference to the bottom line in the long run: The actual work done won't change from the relabeling, and Apple can adjust the hourly wages to get roughly to the same level of total compensation as before. (Modulo boundary effects from America's love affair with minimum wage laws, should they kick in.)

I doubt they’ll adjust the wages, if only because of the bad PR that would result.

They can also hire less, and let inflation do its thing over time.

Re: Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

#277
post #244
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>ripped $20 bill This is a hilarious problem to anyone who has been using polymer bills for nearly a decade.

lol. You guys are really sensitive about your shitty money.

What’s happening? Am I on reddit?

Re: Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

#278
Really... Apple makes huge margins, and they can't afford to pay for the time they require their employees to work?

Also, the fact that this is even possible is a very good example why the US needs more unions. It obviously doesn't work with the current model where employees (of any industry) gets screwed over by the corporate overlords. But no, union BAD!! I don't see a better way to bring weight to the table and force employers to do the right thing, they certainly won't do it of their own accord.

Re: Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

#279
What exactly is meant by having their personal Apple devices searched?

Searching a backpack for stolen hardware seems somewhat reasonable (although it doesn’t reflect well on their hiring standards) but what right does Apple, champion of privacy, have to search through their employees devices?

Re: Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

#280

As a thought experiment, what if companies are made to pay for commute time? How would that change the labour market? Would they hire local? Provide better transportation? Work with cities to reduce congestion? Encourage more remote work? Decide it's too expensive to hire workers and cut hours? Work towards more inclusive housing?

Where I live, it's already the case. Many of my coworkers choose to live further away from the office because the taxes and rent are lower there. It takes me 8 minutes to bike to work but I pay more in taxes and rent. They choose to live an hour away each way to save on these (but pay to own a car, gas, and erode their health sitting in a car)
Post reply on HN