Yesterday, hundreds of Google employees staged a walkout of the London offices after a layoff dispute.
Earlier this year in January, Alphabet – Google’s parent company – announced plans to layoff 6 percent of its global workforce.
This amounted to 12,000 employees.
Similarly last month in Zurich, workers staged a walkout after employees claimed Google had rejected proposals to reduce job cuts.
Unite regional officer Matt Whaley says: “Our members are clear: Google needs to listen to its own advice of not being evil.”
“They and Unite will not back down until Google allows workers full union representation, engages properly with the consultation process and treats its staff with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
Commenting on the significance of layoffs, Alan Price, CEO at BrightHR, says:
“In today’s economic climate, redundancy action is, unfortunately, somewhat inevitable and businesses will likely have reasonable grounds for reducing their workplace headcount. However, it’s essential for employers to recognise that a full and fair consultation process is needed before proceeding with any dismissals.
“Under UK employment laws, which differs greatly from those in the USA (so should definitely not be mimicked), employers who are proposing to dismiss as redundant 20 or more people at a single establishment within a 90-day period, must follow collective consultation rules. This means the organisation must engage with their recognise trade union and/or elect employee representatives, as well as submit an HR1 form as notification of the proposed redundancies to the Secretary of State.
“Where contractual redundancy procedures are in place, as indicated at Google, employers could face further claims for wrongful dismissal if they breach the terms outlined in the contract. As such, it becomes increasingly important to complete a full and fair consultation and dismissal process, with full exploration and exhaustion of alternative options.”
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.