Apple Bans Pay Equity Slack Channel

Apple has barred employees from creating a Slack channel to discuss pay equity. The Verge reports: A member of the employee relations team, Apple's version of HR, said that while the topic was 'aligned with Apple's commitment to pay equity,' it did not meet the company's Slack Terms of Use. 'Slack channels are provided to conduct Apple business and must advance the work, deliverables, or mission of Apple departments and teams,' the employee relations representative told employees. The company's rules for the in-office chat app say that 'Slack channels for activities and hobbies not recognized as Apple Employee clubs or Diversity Network Associations (DNAs) aren't permitted and shouldn't be created.'

But that rule has not been evenly enforced. Currently, Apple employees have popular Slack channels to discuss #fun-dogs (more than 5,000 members), #gaming (more than 3,000 members), and #dad-jokes (more than 2,000 members). On August 18th, the company approved a channel called #community-foosball. The cat and dog channels are not part of official clubs, and all of these channels were specifically created to talk about non-work activities. 'Discussing pay equity is a protected activity under federal, state, and local law,' says employment attorney Vincent P. White. 'Everyone agrees on that. For them to try and impair employees' ability to discuss pay equity and diversity in the workplace is a clear cut act of retaliation.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.