Google illegally underpaid thousands of temporary workers in several countries: report

New Delhi: Google, which was hit by the storm, has been accused of underpaying thousands of temporary workers in several countries. The allegations against the tech giant allege that it has violated pay-parity laws in several countries.

Google has also been accused of delaying the reform of pay rates by more than two years, while it has tried to hide the issue plaguing many of its offices around the world.

In May 2019, Google’s compliance department found issues with low payments in the UK, Europe and Asia. But its top executives chose not to properly compensate low-paid temporary workers.

However, wages were paid at the right rates to the new hires so that the boiling matter could be pressed then and there. Using such a practice, Google allegedly avoided legal, financial and reputational damages, according to a report in The Guardian.

The report brought up the whole matter, citing access to internal Google documents and emails. Also, according to a report in the New York Times, Google’s Ireland-based manager Alan Barry feared that temporary workers would find out about the whole affair if the company dramatically increased salaries. It “could have given rise to a flurry of noise/disappointment.”

“I am also not too keen on inviting the allegation that we have allowed this situation to persist for so long that the need for correction is significant,” Barry wrote in an email cited in the NYT report.

In its response to the Guardian, Google acknowledged mistakes related to underpaying several temporary employees. The tech giant has also assured a probe into the matter.

“While the team hasn’t increased the comparator rate benchmark for a few years, the actual pay rates for temporary employees have increased manifold,” Google’s chief compliance officer, Spiro Caratos, said in a statement.

“Most temporary workers are paid substantially higher than comparator rates… yet, it is clear that the process has not been handled to the high standards to which we hold ourselves as a company. We are conducting a thorough review, and we are committed to identifying and correcting any pay discrepancies that the team has not already addressed. Royal Enfield Himalayan price hiked for the second time in two months: Know the new price, features

“And we’ll review our compliance practices in this area. In short, we’re going to find out what went wrong here, why it happened, and we’re going to fix it.” Read also: Here’s why Zomato stopped its grocery delivery service

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