POLICY
POLICY
POLICY
Google is putting an end to forced arbitration for employees
After employee protests and a winter of discontent at Google LLC, the company today said it will end forced arbitration for all employees starting March 21.
After a global walkout in November that saw thousands of employees taking to the streets, Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said a change in policy was on its way. He made good on his promise. Employees will still have the option to arbitrate privately.
In November, Google said that it would end forced arbitration for sexual harassment and assault cases, but that wasn’t enough for some critics who said all kinds of cases should be covered. What forced arbitration means is that employees sign an agreement to settle disputes within the company rather than take a case to court.
In the tech industry today, many companies still have forced arbitration clause in their contracts. Companies such as Facebook Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. have all made changes recently to contracts and forced arbitration clauses.
“This victory never would have happened if workers hadn’t banded together, supported one another, and walked out,” Google Walkout for Real Change wrote on Twitter. “Collective action works. Worker power works. This is still just the beginning.”
Google also said temporary workers and contractors will also not be asked from now on to settle disputes privately, but it can do nothing about its suppliers and third parties that find contractors for the company. Critics of forced arbitration hope to get to all companies sooner or later.
“But make no mistake — the fight is not over,” the group End Forced Arbitration wrote today in a Medium post. “Google also still works with thousands of suppliers and partners that force arbitration on their own workers.”
Later this month members of that group will sit in front of senators and representatives and call for an end to forced arbitration for all workers in the U.S. “We’re calling on Congress to make this a law to protect everyone,” said the group. “Today was a good day. Now keep going.”
Photo: Ben Nutall/Flickr
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