Alphabet Inc.’s Google in the coming months will roll back requirements that US suppliers and staffing firms pay their employees at least $15 an hour and provide health insurance and other benefits. The company is also refining some of its internal policies and programs to reset expectations of what is appropriate workplace access, such as to internal systems, for people who are not employed directly by Google.
The move could enable the tech giant to avoid bargaining with unions, Reuters reported.
The move follows the US National Labor Relations Board’s January ruling that Google was a joint employer of workers provided by IT services firm Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ: CTSH) and must bargain with their union. Google is appealing that decision.
The 2019 policy mandating wages and benefits, alongside measures such as restricting temporary workers and vendors from accessing internal systems, is being eliminated to align with evolving US and global labor regulations concerning contingent workers, according to Google.
“We’re making clarifying updates to some of our outside supplier policies in order to continue to comply with labor regulations and legal requirements globally,” a Google spokesperson told SIA in a email statement. “These updates bring us in line with other large companies and simply clarify that Google is not, and has never been, the employer of our suppliers’ employees.
“In selecting our suppliers we will of course continue to prioritize those who create high quality working environments, and who provide their employees with competitive compensation and benefits,” the spokesperson stated. “And our suppliers will continue to be held accountable to our Supplier Code of Conduct. We’ll continue to look at any other changes needed to comply with evolving legal requirements around the world.”
Google noted that the retirement of the policy does not require its suppliers and staffing partners to make any changes to the benefits they offer to their employees. The spokesperson said the company has already briefed a number of suppliers on updates to its US policy and found no indication that any standards or benefits for their employees will change; in fact, the majority operate in states that mandate a $15 minimum wage or higher.
