Work from home rules confuse Apple

A group of employees of the American electronics giant “Apple” sent a letter to the company’s management regarding the new policy for remote work, at a time when the company is preparing to return employees to work from offices, after containing the emerging “Corona” virus pandemic.
In the open letter, employees complained about the new policy that allows employees to work only two days a week from home. Many companies have called on their employees to work from home during the pandemic, and have made arrangements to work remotely to prevent the spread of the disease. With vaccination rates against the virus rising in many places, some companies are beginning to invite employees to return to their offices.
Apple employees rejected the company’s reasons for the new policy, which employees described in their letter as wasteful and inflexible. They said it would lead to the “younger, whiter, male and healthier group” dominating the workforce in the company that produces iPhone smartphones.
In the letter, the employees wrote: “You described the pilot hybrid action plan decision as aiming to combine the need for personal communication (between employees) with the value of work flexibility; But the truth is that it does not bring flexibility to work, and depends only on fear: fear of the future of work, fear of the freelancer, fear of losing power.”
And “Apple” announced last March that it would return its employees to work from offices, with work from homes at least two days a week, starting from the second of May. But starting from the 23rd of this month, the hybrid work system will be implemented, which combines work from offices and work from home; Where employees will have to work from the offices on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays of every week, and work from home only two days.
The staff crisis comes to add to the heavy burdens on Apple; On Monday, the European Commission accused the company of preventing competition in contactless payment systems by imposing the Apple Pay service on its mobile phone users.
And the Commission – which is the executive body of the European Union – considered in a statement that the manufacturer of “iPhone” phones “is exploiting its dominant position in the mobile market”, by preventing competing solutions from working on its devices.
The European Commission, which monitors competition affairs in the European Union, criticized Apple last year for anti-competitive practices in the online music market, one of the many files it has faced with giant groups in the technology sector.
After it opened an investigation into Apple Pay in June 2020, the European Commission, on Monday, informed the company in writing of the objections against it. This is an official step that does not lead to predictions in advance of the outcome of this investigation. The company is now able to view the file, and will be able to respond to the accusations leveled against it.
“We have evidence that (Apple) has restricted third parties’ access to key technology needed to develop competing solutions for mobile wallets on Apple devices… in favor of Apple Pay, the solution,” European Competition Commissioner Margarita Vestager said during a press conference. its own.”
Apple Pay is the only mobile payment method that can access NFC (near field communication) technology built into iPhones or iPads to exchange data needed for contactless payments in stores or online, according to the commission. The commission said it “opposes Apple’s decision to prevent (competing) app developers from accessing necessary hardware and software on its devices.”
For its part, Apple justifies access restrictions by ensuring the security of its customers. The Apple brand responded in a statement that Apple Pay was “only one of many options available to European consumers to make payments.”
“We will continue to work with the Commission to ensure that European consumers have access to the payment option of their choice in a safe and secure environment,” she added. No deadline has been set for the EU investigation to continue. If found guilty, Apple would have to correct its practices or face fines of up to 10 percent of its annual sales.