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Tag: Wages

  • Yelp On Defensive Again, This Time Regarding Wages

    Yelp On Defensive Again, This Time Regarding Wages

    Yelp is no stranger to controversy, and this time it finds itself making headlines after now former employee Talia Jane wrote a lengthy open letter to CEO Jeremy Stoppelman complaining about not being compensated enough.

    Do you think Jane was right to speak out against Yelp the way she did? Let us know what you think.

    In the letter, the 25-year-old customer service worker from Yelp’s Eat24 service discussed many aspects of her personal life and how she can’t afford to keep her car maintained or keep her heat on. She claimed to not be able to buy groceries and that she only eats rice for meals. Much of the letter is about her own struggles, but she projects a similar situation upon her co-workers. Here’s an excerpt:

    Every single one of my coworkers is struggling. They’re taking side jobs, they’re living at home. One of them started a GoFundMe because she couldn’t pay her rent. She ended up leaving the company and moving east, somewhere the minimum wage could double as a living wage. Another wrote on those neat whiteboards we’ve got on every floor begging for help because he was bound to be homeless in two weeks. Fortunately, someone helped him out. At least, I think they did. I actually haven’t seen him in the past few months. Do you think he’s okay? Another guy who got hired, and ultimately let go, was undoubtedly homeless.

    None of this has been confirmed to my knowledge. She does point out some of the benefits she and her co-workers are afforded:

    Let’s talk about those benefits, though. They’re great. I’ve got vision, dental, the normal health insurance stuff — and as far as I can tell, I don’t have to pay for any of it! Except the copays. $20 to see a doctor or get an eye exam or see a therapist or get medication. Twenty bucks each is pretty neat, if spending twenty dollars didn’t determine whether or not you could afford to get to work the next week…

    You can read the whole thing from the tweet below:

    Since posting that, she has been let go from the company. According to Re/code, her post generated so much attention, it was even trending on Twitter in San Francisco.

    On Saturday, Stoppelman addressed the letter and defended himself and the company in a series of five tweets:

    Regarding the second side of the HR story, a spokesperson for Yelp told Re/code the company does not comment on personnel issues.

    In an update to her letter post, Jane confirmed that she was terminated from Yelp and told readers that any help until she finds new employment would be “extremely appreciated,” linking several payment services.

    The post generated hundreds of comments ranging across the entire spectrum of responses you would expect.

    Even since Yelp responded, the story has picked up a great deal of momentum, and throughout the week, Jane has been the subject of a great deal of criticism with people calling her “whiny” and “entitled” and others sticking up for her. It has turned into quite the internet debate of the week.

    Fox News highlighted a letter to her from freelance writer Stefanie Williams, who wrote:

    Work ethic is not something that develops from entitlement. Quite the opposite, in fact. It develops when you realize there are a million other people who could perform your job and you are lucky to have one. It comes from sucking up the bad aspects and focusing on the good and above all it comes from humility. It comes from modesty. And those are two things, based on your article, that you clearly do not possess.

    The letter mentions that Talia Jane had posted an “incredibly expensive bourbon” on her Instagram account:

    Do I like Yelp? Not particularly. Do I like that CEOs make pathetic amounts of money? Not particularly. But turning this girl’s inability to work for what she wants into a conversation about poverty (Poverty! She lives in the Bay Area alone and has a corporate job and can afford fancy bourbon! Not exactly the picture of a third world crisis!) and wage issues, it’s utter bullshit.

    Forbes ran a piece saying:

    People think she spent frivolously. I don’t see it. Maybe she had a few small indulgences, but also remember that people tend to put the shiniest picture of themselves online….Ultimately, she was still being paid minimum wage (or very close to it) so she absolutely could not have indulged much…People think she should have found a cheaper place to live or found a roommate. Look, San Francisco is expensive. Apparently the roommate she was supposed to have flaked. But bedrooms in San Francisco actually are about $1200/month. So she moved 30 miles from work instead. Maybe she could have held for a cheaper option, but then maybe doing that wasn’t an option.

    People think she should have not come to San Francisco, since it’s so expensive. She apparently had a very bad situation pre-move and needed to get out of her city. She came here to move closer to her dad (who she doesn’t have a great relationship with, but would like to). That’s a pretty reasonable decision. Minimum wage isn’t very livable anywhere (and it’s semi-adjusted to cost-of-living), and it makes sense to move somewhere near family.

    CNN used the debate to ask questions like “Are millennials ‘entitled’ or just underpaid?”, if the “American dream” is “achievable,” and “Is San Francisco too expensive?” Answers are only implied.

    It seems that just about everybody who has seen the story has weighed in with their own opinion. What’s yours? Share in the comments.

    Image via Jeremy Stoppelman (Twitter)

  • Uber Facing Another Lawsuit from Driver Who Claims Employee Status

    Uber is once again facing a lawsuit from a driver who says he should be treated as an employee, rather than an independent contractor.

    A Los Angeles man named Greg Fisher has sued Uber in California Northern District Court. He claims that Uber owes him unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime, and other damages.

    According to Fisher, Uber owes him this under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which covers employees in both the public and private sector.

    Of course, the issues here is that Uber does not see its drivers as employees.

    Uber’s stance has always been that it’s a software company. Uber connects people wanting a ride to those offering a ride. It’s a logistics company. Uber simply connects third-party contractors with customers. Its drivers are independent contractors, not employees.

    Earlier this year, the California Labor Commission ruled that an Uber driver was an actual employee – as Uber is “involved in every aspect of the operation.”

    “One of the main reasons drivers use Uber is because they love being their own boss,” said Uber in response. “As employees, drivers would drive set shifts, earn a fixed hourly wage, and lose the ability to drive elsewhere. The reality is that drivers use Uber on their own terms: they control their use of the app.”

    But the lawsuits keep piling up.

    Last month, UK union GMB, which represents professional drivers, has engaged a law firm to file suit against Uber “on the grounds that Uber is in breach of a legal duty to provide them with basic rights on pay, holidays, health and safety and on discipline and grievances.”

    Mr. Fisher is seeking class action status for his lawsuit.

  • McDonald’s Employees Sue, Claim Wage Theft

    McDonald’s Employees Sue, Claim Wage Theft

    According to the Chicago Tribune, there have been seven class-action lawsuits filed by McDonald’s restaurant employees recently. The suits charge McDonald’s with systematically stealing wages from employees in a variety of ways.

    Some of the plaintiffs said that the burger chain did not pay overtime as they were required to do. Others said they were forced to do work “off the clock”, pay for their own uniforms, and were not given timely breaks at work.

    A spokesperson for McDonalds, Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem, said in a statement:

    “McDonald’s and our independent franchisees are committed to undertaking a comprehensive investigation of the allegations and will take any necessary actions as they apply to our respective organizations.”

    Some of the lawsuits were leveled at area franchises, as opposed to the parent McDonald’s corporation, though 2 of the suits did name the headquarters company.

    The Tribune went on to report that one of the attorneys in the case, one Joe Sellers, had said in a statement:

    “In the past, McDonald’s has tried to shield itself from liability from these unlawful employment practices committed at its franchise restaurants. We believe it is time McDonald’s accepts responsibility for the pay practices at its franchise restaurants.”

    One of the workers, Jason Hughes, says that the wage theft consisted of his being asked by management to clock out during slow periods during the day, but to remain on the premises, ready to clock back in when things got busy.

    McDonald’s is no stranger to lawsuits. The infamous “hot coffee” suit polarized people for years, and provided fodder for late night comedians and politicians alike. But the Golden Arches have also seen suits over obesity and, in one strange case, damages for a man only being given a single napkin with his order.

    Image via: Wikimedia Commons

  • Study: An Active Sex Life Increases Your Wages

    Study: An Active Sex Life Increases Your Wages

    The news is in, folks: gettin’ lucky increases your lifespan. A study published by the Institute for the Study of Labor in Germany has concluded that people who have sex four or more times a week earned more money than their asexual brethren.

    Nick Drydakis, the study author and an economics lecturer at Angila Ruskin University in Cambridge, told CBS News that without an active sex life, “many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and depression that could affect their working life.”

    In order to assemble his data, Drydakis looked at a year-long survey of 7,500 households in Greece.

    The study included both straight and gay couples, although only 5.5 percent of respondents reported their status as LGBT. The really interesting finding: people not having any sex made 3.2 percent less money than those who were. The trends seem unaffected by such variables as education, sexual orientation, or job held.

    The study does not make any conclusions about the link between sex and money, although some might claim they have mastered it. Drydakis seems to think that people who are employed simply have more cash to spend on dates, but the fact may just be that people who can afford to date buy more gifts for their partners.

    The HuffPost took an interesting note with the financial details: the research makes the claim that workers between the ages of 26 and 50 tend to get higher financial returns on their sexual activity, and that those returns are unaffected by your sexual orientation.

    In summation (because the whole thing does sound a bit strange): four instances of sexual activity a week are correlated with statistically significant higher wages. If you have health problems, the correlation remains true; if you are straight or gay, the correlation remains true; and if you are younger than 50, you get the highest financial return on your investment of time spent having sex.

    You can read the findings for yourself here.

  • Foxconn May Increase Wages

    Foxconn May Increase Wages

    It was recently reported that Apple Inc. has teamed up with Foxconn, the Chinese supplier of iPhone and iPad devices, to improve the labor conditions in its manufacturing facilities. Foxconn is also investing $210 million into building a new production line in Huai’an City, China. Foxconn plants, known for various questionable practices including employing underage workers, and underpaying and likewise overcharging workers to live in on-site dorms, prompting strikes and mass-suicidal behavior. Though, it’s been reported that Foxconn workers might be getting a substantial raise next year.

    Foxconn is allegedly planning to double its Chinese factory workers’ salaries by 2013, according to a Chinese newspaper, via M.I.C Gadget. Factory workers presently make roughly $346 a month at Foxconn, and the reported raise would bump up wages to $693 a month, a 100% increase. The aforementioned suicides at the Foxconn compounds prompted the company to raise wages in the past – nearly doubling salaries in 2010 to $315. Workers had been previously paid $141 a month.

    The speculation regarding the raise is based on words apparently coming from Foxconn’s CEO during its Shanghai headquarters groundbreaking ceremony. The raise would be great for the migrant laborers at the Foxconn plants, and would affect competing businesses, likely prompting them to add more incentives to retain their own work force.

  • Foxconn Promises More Wages, Less Hours

    Foxconn, the main manufacturer of electronics for Apple, has promised to reduce working hours and increase wages across its factories in China, the New York Times is reporting.

    The changes come after inspections from the Fair Labor Association discovered poor working conditions and numerous violations of Chinese law within the factories. Foxconn was found to have employees working more than 60 hours a week, sometimes more than 11 days in a row. In a survey of over 35,000 workers, the FLA discovered over two-thirds of the workers said their compensation “does not meet their basic needs.” Workers at one plant start out at about $285 a month, with average wages around $426 to $455 a month.

    The same survey revealed that 43% had experienced or witnessed an accident, and many said Chinese unions do “not provide true worker representation.” The group found that in the past workers were prepped to give false information when asked questions by auditors. They even discovered a cheat sheet that provided workers false answers to give to fair labor agencies. Workers that did not comply were threatened with cuts in hours or termination.

    Apple recently joined the Fair Labor Association and asked the group to conduct the inspections, amid an ongoing outcry over poor labor conditions at their factories. Numerous protests and petitions have been held to call attention to the matter, culminating in a collection of advocacy groups writing an open letter to Apple calling on the company to “ensure decent working conditions at all of its suppliers.”

    In response, Apple has released the names of all of its 156 suppliers, information they had previously withheld. They have also begun posting regular reports on the number of hours worked by Foxconn employees. Since there involvement with the FLA, Chinese workers have seen pay increases of up to 25 percent.

    Since widespread reports from the media and Apple joining the FLA, Foxconn has vowed to have no employee working more than 49 hours per week by July of next year. They have said pay will not decline, despite hours being cut, meaning pay raises across the board. Foxconn will likely have to hire tens of thousands of new workers and pay increases will likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

    Unless Apple is willing to accept lower profit margins, this will likely translate into higher prices on iPhones and iPads in the future. Foxconn also manufactures for Dell and Amazon, in fact, they hold contracts to supply over 40% of the world’s electronics. A rise in the cost of production at Foxconn could mean a price hike in electronics everywhere.

    Promises have been made by Foxconn in the past, and have not been followed through. In 2006, a similar policy was enacted by the company that promised to enforce weekly overtime limits imposed by Chinese law. Only time will tell if the company is still blowing smoke. With a promise to be in compliance in over a years time, they could be just waiting for the added attention to blow over.