Apple will expand benefits to all of its US retail employees starting April 4. Bloomberg new benefits include increased vacation and sick days, paid parental leave and more. This will affect full-time and part-time employees at all 270 Apple Stores across the country.
The tech giant’s offer of more generous benefits didn’t come out of nowhere. Apple, like many corporations, is having a hard time recruiting and retaining hourly workers in a tight labor market. Various media, including , , and others reported on the grim realities of Apple’s retail operations, which include low pay, stressful workloads and low employee morale. Staff shortages due to Covid-19 have led many stores to operate in or closing completely. Dozens of Apple Employees Organized a Christmas Eve to protest their working conditions. The testimony of these workers stands in stark contrast to Apple’s financial situation during the pandemic, which has produced several record quarters in a row.
Apple will double the number of paid sick leave for full-time and part-time employees. Full-time retail employees will receive 12 days of sick leave instead of six. The company will also be more lenient on sick leave, allowing workers to use sick leave for mental health days or to take family members to the doctor. Part-time workers will also receive paid vacation days and paid parental leave for up to six weeks.
The expansion of company benefits follows similar moves by Amazon, Walmart and Fedex to retain hourly and frontline employees. Thousands of frontline workers have resigned or retired due to stressful and dangerous working conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic. But labor rights advocates point out that many of these improvements, such as bonuses or hazard pay, are or since.
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