Google contractor says she was fired for talking about pay | Hacker News Reader

Google contractor says she was fired for talking about pay

protocol.com

43 pointsjohndfsgdgdfg17 comments

Title is a bit misleading "talking about pay" makes it sound like talking about her pay with other workers (very clearly a labor law violation). The actual event was for asking management about getting holiday pay. I don't know where the law stands on that.

In the article she says "she expressed her frustration" and had been on the job for only 9 days. The specifics of how she "expressed her frustration" are likely quite relevant here...

People in management are also employees/workers, too. I'm not sure that just because they also happened to be management changes anything. If anything, that ought to make it worse.

Poster could have done a better job shortening the title of the article:

'Ungoogley' behavior: Google contractor says she was fired for asking about holiday pay

I was kinda hoping that adjust a corny phrase used by the author.

But no, tbh it's probably a blessing to be let go for being "Ungoogley". I'd have a hard time taking people seriously.

there's really not enough info here to figure out who was in the wrong. It's entirely possible that one's behavior at a large meeting could be grounds for dismissal, or this could be some sort of power trip by some middle manager.

Another day, another HN thread where everyone becomes a labor law expert in order to find a way that it’s justified and legal and cool for a giant multinational surveillance capitalism conglomerate to treat workers poorly

Believe me, not everybody is a fan of giant multinationals, let alone Google.

I think TFA has insufficient information to even work out what happened. She "asked about holiday pay", her "behavior was unacceptable" -- that's so vague it's ridiculous. After reading the article, I have no idea why she was fired.

Thanks for your comment. It saved me from writing my own.

Labor relations board? Sounds like a contractual matter and a naive employee of Modis.

Contractor working arrangements are well defined by the work contract. This includes salaries for defined roles, e.g. Software Engineer II. Google, like any prime, can most likely terminate a contract agreement with a contractor (or a contractor employee) for any reason or no reason at all. All the prime has to do is provide notice and final pay for work performed. I’m surprised that Modis isn’t dealing with this directly. This could sour their relationship with Google.

It's not nearly that simple, as hinted at in the third paragraph where Modis already gave another worker their job back. Federal law protects workers who talk about pay and working conditions. You can't sign those rights away in a contract.

If she's a contractor, Google can't really decide to control her behavior in this way. She should file as a statutory employee and let the IRS deal with the fall out. If Google is directing her work, she's an employee.

She was a Modis employee.

google terminated her contract with modis not with her directly. i don't see how the law protects her modis contract.

Its upto her employer modis to provide working conditions that she desires not google's responsibility.

If inserting an intermediary voided all employment law, everyone would be hired through an intermediary. It would be a huge perverse incentive.

How does intermediary not get similarly held accountable in court and continue operating.

I am not sure what law is being voided.

The point is if Google causes her employer to violate labor law I believe google would also be legally responsible for violating labor law. If Google directs her company's actions then Google becomes liable for the results. If anything illegal happened it's only if Google had nothing to do with the decision making that would cause it to not be Google's problem.

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