Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Twitter, Google have announced their willingness to pay hourly workers full salaries for working from home. The big tech companies took the decision because of the spread of Coronavirus which mandated some workers to be asked to work from home. The organizations said it is important to protect the health of their workers and also protect their jobs in the face of the rising spread of the disease in the United States.
In a blog post announcing the decision, Microsoft stated that workers on hourly jobs will be paid regardless of whether their full services are required or not at this time.
“We recognize the hardship that lost work can mean for hourly employees,” Microsoft wrote. “As a result, we’ve decided that Microsoft will continue to pay all our vendor hourly service providers their regular pay during this period of reduced service needs. This is independent of whether their full services are needed.”
Facebook also said the health and safety of all workers are important at this time, and that workers would be paid in full whether they get sent home, too sick to work or have their branch offices closed due to fears associated with coronavirus.
“We are working closely with our vendors to ensure we prioritize our team’s health and safety,” Facebook wrote. “Facebook will pay contingent workers that cannot work due to reduced staffing requirements during voluntary work from home, when we close an office, when we choose to send an employee home, or when they are sick.”
Amazon promised to pay all hourly workers their full payments whether they are janitors, security guards, or food service staffers among others. The company also promised to subsidize a one-month rent payment for small businesses operating inside Amazon’s tenement buildings.
“We will continue to pay all hourly employees that support our campus in Seattle and Bellevue – from food service to security guards to janitorial staff – during the time our employees are asked to work from home,” Amazon stated. “In addition, we will subsidize one month of rent for the local small businesses that operate inside our owned buildings to help support them during this period.”
Microsoft President Brad Smith said the full payments will not only keep workers happy during the reduced work hours associated with COVID-19 prevention measures, but it will also keep the local economy afloat. All the others including Google, Twitter, and Apple among others vowed to also pay hourly workers their full compensations.
Source: Komonews.com