The 2019 policy, alongside measures such as restricting temporary workers and vendors from accessing internal systems, is being eliminated.
Alphabet Inc’s Google announced on Friday its decision to retract the mandate for US suppliers and staffing firms to pay their employees at least $15 an hour and offer health insurance and additional benefits. This move is anticipated to allow the tech titan to sidestep negotiations with unions.
The 2019 policy, alongside measures such as restricting temporary workers and vendors from accessing internal systems, is being eliminated to align with evolving US and global labour regulations concerning contingent workers, according to a spokesperson for Google, headquartered in Mountain View, California.
“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,” a Google spokesperson told Reuters.
This announcement follows a ruling by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board in January, labelling Google a “joint employer” of workers sourced through staffing firm Cognizant Technology Solutions, necessitating negotiations with their union. Google is contesting this ruling.
The board’s decision was influenced, in part, by the 2019 policy, which was deemed to grant Google control over the workers despite not directly employing them.
The labour board has taken steps to tighten regulations, making it harder for companies to evade negotiations with temporary and contract workers. Last year, it adopted a rule stating that companies with indirect control over working conditions may be classified as employers of contract workers. However, a federal judge halted the implementation of this rule in March.