This reads as a long diatribe from a malcontent and possibly incompetent employee.
My Experience at Apple
511–520 of 840 posts
Re: My Experience at Apple
#512Earlier quoted context omitted.
I even had to look for what it means to "be exempt". > Exempt employees stand in contrast to non-exempt employees, which are paid minimum wage and overtime above the standard 40-hour workweek. Wow if I had heard this in a random bar discussion I would called it complete and utter bullshit. The more I read HN the more it feels like being a worker in the US is like riding a horse through the wild west; anything can hap…
FYI, it goes both ways. An exempt employee chooses their own hours. If the company tries to dock them for working less they'd immediately become non-exempt.
> If the company tries to dock them for working less they'd immediately become non-exempt.
This is false. First, the relevant rule that is kind of like that is the “salary basis” rule, which doesn't apply to all exempt employees; for instance, it does not apply to “Computer professionals who are paid on an hourly basis at a rate not less than $27.63 per hour.”
Second, even for exempt employees subject to the salary basis test, they can be subject to workplace conduct rules requiring a set schedule and be subject to disciplinary dock for failing to comply with that conduct rule. The structure of the dock needs to make sense as a disciplinary dock and not be a de facto shift to non-salary pay, but there is absolutely no rule in US federal labor law that “an exempt employee chooses their own hours”.
Re: My Experience at Apple
#513Earlier quoted context omitted.
3. After any major organizational change, such as a merger, any promises made by the diminished chain command are not enforceable. What you won't see is that some of those promises are encouraged by the new chain of command in order to maintain calm. Eventually the one making the promises will either not be around or find that they don't have the resources to fulfill the promise. They may quit when they figure this o…
> If something matters to you, make sure you get the new bosses to announce it in front of people. In writing.
Definitely. Also don't stake your whole life plan on that promise being kept. Transitional promises have a habit of being walked back.
There are many workplace promises that are disappointing or an inconvenience if they don't work out, but some end up being an existential threat (eg, "Don't worry, we're keeping the Boston office.")
Accept the promise, but groom your professional network extra carefully until the dust settles.
Re: My Experience at Apple
#514Posting anonymously for obvious reasons. Unlike others, I actually find this story fairly believable. When I first joined Apple, straight out of college - a good program, top three in the country - I was abused similarly. I joined a team that was on a project behind schedule. Our manager was a brusque, no-nonsense sort of dude. But he clearly had anger problems. On the team were 2 senior engineers, me, and a junior e…
Some extra tidbits that didn't make it in because the edit timer ran out: - Despite the big release and herculean efforts, both of us were paid a fraction of our target bonus. This was the day I decided to move jobs. - I eventually grew some balls and told Apple to (a) pay me 2.5x during overtime (b) hire SREs for this critical service, or (c) go fuck themselves. They chose (c), which worked alright because our servi…
> Do your job, but don't kill yourself over it. Work-life balance is king.
This is the most important lesson I learned working at the fruit company. That and never have a long commute.
I now work at a place that's ten minutes door-to-door in the morning and fifteen in the afternoon. I took a pay cut to achieve that (I live in East Bay), but maybe the new wfh culture post-COVID will open up more possibilities.
Anyway, point being that I've decided that my job is second to my happiness.
Re: My Experience at Apple
#515Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is not illegal in New York to record a conversation if the person recording is part of the conversation (one-party consent).
Huh. I did not know that. Thanks!
Here's a summary of NY law regarding one-party consent: https://recordinglaw.com/united-states-recording-laws/one-pa...
Re: My Experience at Apple
#516Posting anonymously for obvious reasons. Unlike others, I actually find this story fairly believable. When I first joined Apple, straight out of college - a good program, top three in the country - I was abused similarly. I joined a team that was on a project behind schedule. Our manager was a brusque, no-nonsense sort of dude. But he clearly had anger problems. On the team were 2 senior engineers, me, and a junior e…
I am so sorry this happened to you. :,(
I hope Tim Cook sees this and takes swift action to make things right with you, hold others accountable, and ensure processes are changed to prevent this from ever recurring.
Re: My Experience at Apple
#517Posting anonymously for obvious reasons. Unlike others, I actually find this story fairly believable. When I first joined Apple, straight out of college - a good program, top three in the country - I was abused similarly. I joined a team that was on a project behind schedule. Our manager was a brusque, no-nonsense sort of dude. But he clearly had anger problems. On the team were 2 senior engineers, me, and a junior e…
Talk to a workers compensation attorney. If this job was less than five years ago, don’t delay. It cost nothing! The attorney gets 15% when they settle the case.
Re: My Experience at Apple
#518Earlier quoted context omitted.
In NY (and, I think, California), that's illegal. I found this out, because at the company at which I worked, managers kept making verbal commitments, then gaslighting me about them. I could never get them to commit in writing, and my own "reflection" emails (the standard advice about this) were worthless. I considered walking around with a little digital recorder in my pocket. But many states have explicit laws agai…
By reflection emails you mean where you summarize what was said and try to get the other person to confirm them? I think those only work if you disregard any statements that don't get confirmed, and/or you twist the statements into action items that you don't prioritize until they confirm them.
The way that weasels (BTW: The Way of the Weasel, by Scott Adams, is downright prophetic about this kind of stuff) deal with it, is to not respond at all. Then, when you bring it up, they say “I never agreed to/said that!” If you then share the email, they say “I never got that. I would have corrected it, if I had.”
Their manager always has their back on these exchanges.
Re: My Experience at Apple
#519Earlier quoted context omitted.
According to the article, the person was documenting things. They even included a picture of a meeting invite. They also went to HR many times. Only thing they didn't do was seek legal council, but that's probably a hard step to take when you're on a work visa - especially when Apple is your legal opponent.
> ... especially when Apple is your legal opponent. If the facts are on the employee's side, then many lawyers would take such a case on contingency because Apple (or any large, successful company) has very deep pockets to pay a judgment or settlement. Conversely, finding a lawyer to sue a small employer on contingency would be more difficult because the small employer could declare bankruptcy, making collecting a ju…
Do you actually have significant case filing you can point to about this? Genuinely asking, because it's always spoken to me that workplace abuse is extremely hard to sue over because you'll be outgunned (financially), lawyers will never work contingency because the money payout isn't worth the effort, and the employee in trying to legally defend themselves have now permanently ruined their career prospects.
Re: My Experience at Apple
#520Things new engineers don't know, but should: 1. HR doesn't work for you; they work to minimize liability for the company. If HR thinks the best way to accomplish that is to destroy your life, that's exactly what they will do. 2. Many SV companies, as well as groups within large, respected SV companies, only survive through exploitation. They exploit their customers, their workforce, or both. Exploitation means obtain…
3. After any major organizational change, such as a merger, any promises made by the diminished chain command are not enforceable. What you won't see is that some of those promises are encouraged by the new chain of command in order to maintain calm. Eventually the one making the promises will either not be around or find that they don't have the resources to fulfill the promise. They may quit when they figure this o…
Agreed, but I've also seen this happen with only a minor change, such as your boss leaving. When your boss gets replaced, it can be quite difficult to ensure that previous promises are kept. Not always, but often.