Apple Accused by NLRB of Restricting Workers’ Social Media Use, Fired Employee for Using Slack in Workplace, Tech Giant Denies Allegations

Cupertino, October 12: The US National Labor Relations Board reportedly accused Apple of restricting workers' rights to use social media and Slack in the workplace. The agency said that the tech giant had advocated for working conditions and interfered with workers' rights, even firing an employee who was caught using Slack in the workplace. 

Reuters reported that the NLRB complaint accused Apple Inc. of unlawful work rules and not allowing the workers to use Slack and other social media applications. The company prohibited "acceptable use" of these platforms and illegally fired an employee who advocated for workplace changes on Slack, said the report. Apple Researchers Question AI’s Formal Reasoning Capabilities in Mathematics, Find LLM Responding Differently to Same Question.

Apple made other workers delete the social media posts, creating an impression among the employees that they were being surveilled through social media. This month, the National Labor Relations Board took on Apple for the second time with a complaint. Previously, the iPhone maker was accused of requiring employees across the nation to illegally sign "confidentiality, nondisclosure, and non-compete agreements." 

Further, Apple reportedly imposed social media policies and "overly broad misconduct". The report highlighted that Apple's spokesperson stated that the company was committed to maintaining a "positive and inclusive" workplace. He also added that Apple would take the complaints seriously. 

Addressing the National Labor Relations Board's claims, Apple said that it strongly disagreed with the agency's claims and would share the facts during the court hearing. Apple denied any "wrongdoing" and stated that it respected employees' rights to discuss wages, hours, and working conditions. Elon Musk’s X Reaches Agreement With Unilever, Drops Company From Advertiser Boycott Lawsuit.

The report said that if Apple did not settle with the NLRB agency, then an administrative judge would hold an initial hearing in February 2025 along with five labour board members. The ruling of these people can be appealed in the federal court. Apple reportedly fired Janneke Parrish in 2021 for playing a pivotal role in employee activism.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 12, 2024 07:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).