Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Google has told employees who were fired during maternity leave and sick leave that they will not receive compensation for the rest of their vacation, according to written communications from employees who left the company and were exposed. This may result in treatment being interrupted for some people.

More than 100 former Google employees organized a group called "furloughed layoffs," demanding Google pay for the weeks or months they were granted furloughs before the layoffs were announced in January. A number of respondents said they were told they would only receive wages up to a specified end date, as well as standard severance pay.

The group of departing employees wrote three times to executives, including chief executive Sundar Pichai and chief human resources officer Fiona Cicconi, most recently on March 9, but received no reply. These employees include those granted maternity, paternity, nursing, sick and family leave.

Earlier last year, Google announced it would extend maternity leave for full-time employees from 18 weeks to 24 weeks. Chikoni said at the time that the company wanted to offer "special benefits" so employees could "spend more time with their newborn children, care for sick relatives, or take care of their own health."

But Alphabet, Google's parent company, has since entered its most severe cost-cutting period since going public nearly two decades ago. The company said in January it would lay off 12,000 jobs, or about 6 percent of its workforce, to counter slowing revenue growth after a long expansion in the tech sector. Pichai said at the time that U.S. employees working at Google would receive 16 weeks of severance pay and an additional two weeks for each additional year of service. The company also said paid leave pay would be included in the severance package.

However, employees who were fired while on sick leave urged Pichai and other executives to clarify the matter immediately because of the looming deadline: Google's official firing terms are expected to be in place as soon as March 31.

In january, furloughs sent its first e-mail to google executives, sharing specific examples of employees affected by layoffs while on leave. One woman said she was fired a week after she was granted maternity leave. Another stated that she had received a dismissal notice while on maternity leave and that she was only a week away from her due date.

Many people have also begun to discuss it openly. A Google project manager wrote on LinkedIn, a professional social networking site: "Just a week after receiving the text message informing me of the good news that my maternity leave was approved, I received the widely discussed email informing me that I was one of 12,000 people who were fired. Is someone like me an easy target for layoffs? Maybe. "

Kate Howells, another longtime employee, posted that she had just given birth to a child before receiving her pink slip. She wrote: "At 7:05 a.m. on January 20, 2023, as I lay in my hospital bed with my newborn baby in my arms, I learned that I was one of the 12,000 Google employees who had been fired, even though I had been working at Google for nine and a half years. "

A Google spokesman said in an email that departing employees continue to be eligible for stock awards and salaries "for a notice period longer than 60 days," and reiterated Pichai's statement about severance pay. However, Google did not say whether it would pay full sick pay in addition to severance pay. "As we shared with affected employees, we benchmarked this option to ensure that we provided better healthcare than other companies, including Google employees on leave," the spokesperson said. "

Several fired Google employees revealed that they received doctor and specialist diagnostic benefits through Google-invested medical company One Medical, which were also cancelled on the day the layoff notice was issued. They say this interrupted many treatments that were ongoing at the time. A senior software engineer who was fired said he had been receiving treatment from a health care doctor for the past three years, but that treatment had been interrupted. Some former employees said they had the option of continuing to see their doctor online, but were advised to find a replacement as soon as possible.

This group of laid-off employees stressed that these things happened during Women's History Month. "Google is currently demonstrating its workplace commitment and position in support of Women's History Month through various product and service events," the group Laid Off wrote in an email to Google executives. We agree with you that it is important to recognize that women in the workplace still face more difficulties. "

They also say Google still has a chance to fix the problem. "We implore Google to make a good-faith effort to adhere to its original approved parental leave, parental leave, and sick leave commitments, which apply to all leave approved through January 20, 2023," the group wrote. "

At an informal event hosted by Xoogler, a Google alumni group, in January, more than 50 laid-off employees gathered to comfort each other and seek answers. Event organizer Kushagra Shrivastava recalled one mother saying at the event that she "was suddenly fired while caring for her three-month-old child, which sounded sad. "

New mothers and newly pregnant employees aren't the only ones finding themselves in trouble. The email sent by Laid-Off to management also mentions the challenges faced by pregnant women who haven't formally applied for leave, saying: "Given their current situation, they will have more difficulties, including finding a new job. "

At new employers, these women will have to wait a year to enjoy benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the organization said,"which may affect the well-being of prospective mothers, new mothers and infants, and maternity leave and sick leave pose a huge burden on the ability of laid off Google employees to immediately find new jobs."

In its letter, the group Laid-Off mentions companies such as Amazon. The companies say they will pay for the rest of their vacation time in addition to severance pay.

Former employees who tried to communicate with Google said they couldn't access the company's internal systems and had to fill out forms on other short-term portals. Some said they received responses a week after submitting their inquiries, but these appeared to be automatic responses reiterating the end date of their work or instructing them to reapply for other positions.

In the emails, the laid-off employees pointed out that Pichai was more concerned about the company's efforts to maintain rapid growth in the battle for AI supremacy than caring for long-term employees in need.

"When Pichai announced the layoffs, he mentioned the company's AI vision three times, but never Google's commitment to accessibility," the group wrote. This is important because ease of use is an important part of the company's true mission. This clearly requires a redefinition of priorities. Not surprisingly, days after firing us, Google passed a poor demo showing that they really weren't leading the way in AI. The good news, however, is that Google still has a chance to lead when it comes to the treatment of laid-off workers. "

Spend quality time with your newborn furlough also reminds google leadership of the importance of paying attention to parental well-being and the company's intentions when updating plans. In the e-mail, the group also specifically noted that parents should spend quality time with their newborns without having to think about work and rushing back to the office.

"Google needs to take these into account when developing parental benefits, emphasizing that parents need time off to recover and connect with their newborns," the email read. "

Some said they hoped the problem was just an oversight and that executives would take corrective action because Google promised to give them paid vacation time for certain hours. "Paying full residual vacation pay for scheduled and upcoming holidays is very consistent with Google's current policy of paying for accrued employee leave time (PTO) for this round of layoffs." "

Citing Google's original core value of "do no evil," the group demanded a swift response from leadership. We invited executives to come together, just like ordinary googlers, to come up with something easier to learn that fits with the company's stated commitment to diversity, fairness and inclusion in the workplace,"they said." "

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.