http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/15/apple-employee-20-minutes-france_n_3275332.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003 Apple Employee Who Worked 20 Minutes Over Shift In France Reportedly Warned, Threatened With Sanctions
The Huffington Post | By Sara Gates Posted: 05/15/2013 10:26 am EDT
So much for overtime. One Apple employee in France who worked 20 minutes after the end of his shift was reportedly given a heavy warning for working too late.According to Le Parisien, Thomas Bordage was summoned to a preliminary interview with his supervisors Monday and threatened with disciplinary sanctions, including termination, for working the "unjustified" extra time.
It seems Apple is taking seriously the 10,000 euro fine (nearly $13,000) it was slapped with back in March.
After six French labor unions filed a complaint against the company for requiring employees to stay late, a French court banned France's Apple Stores from forcing employees to work nighttime hours and ordered Apple to pay damages to the unions. Apple was also threatened with an even larger fine -- 50,000 euros (about $64,000) -- for every additional infraction.
Bordage, one of the leaders of a strike outside a Paris Apple Store in September, feels his superiors' response may be a ploy to find a reason to fire him.
As a member of the Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques (SUD), one of the unions that filed the labor complaint against Apple, Bordage has certain protections against unlawful termination.
In a statement, SUD said if Apple carried out the "absurd idea to fire our comrade," the company would face "an unprecedeneted conflict."
As Ars Technica notes, French labor laws allow employees to work late in France. However, companies must pay employees at a higher rate for these nighttime hours and may also be required to give the employee the next day off, depending on the number of overtime hours worked.
Apple did not immediately respond to The Huffington Post's request for comment.
