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Last week, thousands of Google staff members came out of their offices and took to the streets to participate in the largest collective event of technology workers in history. The event, which included Google offices across several continents, was sparked by reports that the company has offered lucrative exit packages to several senior executives accused of sexual misconduct. The impressive solidarity among Google employees marked the highlight of the industry's success.
The organizers of the Women's march have called for a number of changes to create a more inclusive and safe environment. Among their main demands, there is improved reporting of sexual harassment and assault, which Google promised Thursday to take into account, at least partially. However, sources told Gizmodo that the process is particularly frustrating and confusing, potentially discouraging contractors from filing complaints or expressing concerns. And for entrepreneurs in particular, it does not seem like Google has the intention to improve it anytime soon.
You just need a clear plan of action and some kind of peace or assurance that if you are a TVC, the status of your contract will not be compromised if you report something.
"I had to read it in the press rather than directly from the CEO I had been working for the company over the past year," said a subcontractor in Gizmodo on Thursday.
About half of Google's workforce would be comprised of temporary employees, salespeople or contractors, better known in the industry. as a TVC. This includes people working on projects with full-time employees, as well as service workers such as baristas, bus drivers and coffee workers. They are not officially employees of Google, and they do not enjoy the same benefits or job security as those who are, according to the subcontractors who spoke to Gizmodo. In addition, the contractors state that they have a separate process in place to report misconduct that may completely dispel Google's involvement.
Two contractors currently working for Google, who spoke to Gizmodo under cover of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said the process was currently confusing and unfair to a workforce that felt more vulnerable than the Googlers to full-time. None of the contractors reported experiencing or reporting sexual misconduct, but both expressed their frustration with the current reporting process, calling it difficult to navigate. They also expressed concern that reporting wrongdoing may have a negative impact on their professional status, despite the company's assurance of no retaliation.
One contractor stated that his impression of Google was not obvious negligence or mistaken priorities. Instead, they said that he continues to maintain a system that can be an obstacle for contract workers.
"I think Google would say …" We want to protect women, we want to protect people, report sexual harassment would not compromise your contract, "" he said, adding that it was common that contractors know a member of their team whose contract has been shortened or not renewed without a stated reason. "There are just a few inconsistencies about what Google says and what it does, especially about TVC issues."
In response to an article published last month in The New York Times, describing how Google allegedly concealed accusations of sexual misconduct against several leaders, CEO Sundar Pichai sent an email to All of Google's staff with the subject "Report and Investigate Harassment". a few lines explaining how workers can find more information on how to voice their concerns through internal tools.
One contractor told Gizmodo that television channels have a separate anonymous web portal for workplace issues. "There are two things to click on, it is not very clear on what to click first," the contractor said about the portal. "I do not see where it's going, how things are going."
According to screenshots obtained by Gizmodo from Google's support page for raising harassment issues at work, people should first report their concerns to their recruiting agency, not to Google itself. . If an incident involves another TVC, explains the page, Google will inform the contractor's employer. If this involves a Google employee, Google says that it "will ensure that the appropriate team deals with the problem and will follow you once our process is complete."
This page also includes contact information for an anonymous help line as well as a section guaranteeing people that they will not be retaliated for raising a concern. "This means that Google will not take any action that could negatively impact a person who has just reported or participated in an investigation into a possible violation of our Code of Conduct, Google's policy, or the law," states The report.
Gizmodo sent an e-mail to a contracting agency, in accordance with Google's policy. He indicated that the TVC should not contact the Google manager if it has to file a claim, but rather a human resources email associated with the agency. Google is working with several different recruitment agencies, and one contractor said that the way in which TVCs are handled within the company "seems very inconsistent".
"You just need a clear plan of action and a kind of peace or assurance that if you are a TVC, the status of your contract will not be compromised if you report something," they said.
These are our employees, not those of Google.
A representative of Crowdstaffing, one of the recruitment agencies working with Google, told Gizmodo that she had her own manual and policies for employees and that she was the main contact with the contractor, including for filing complaints in the workplace. The representative stated that at some point in the complaint process, a customer, such as Google, could be connected, but this would happen "at a later stage" after doing his own analysis.
"It's just designed as a way to make sure we support," said the representative. "These are our employees, not those of Google."
The spokesman for the agency said that in recent years, Crowdstaffing had employed more than 1,000 people at Google and that, although subcontractors have touched on various topics during their mission , such as compensation, the agency has "never had any cases of sexual harassment. "
"We had maybe one or two situations in which we had employees who perhaps did not hear with some members of the organization team," said the representative. , adding that this "does not mean [sexual misconduct complaints] does not exist, but from my point of view, the situation is pretty good there. "
Google organizers specifically asked for "a clear, consistent and comprehensive process for reporting sexual misconduct safely and anonymously," which includes CVTs. The confusing and inconsistent process of filing complaints hardly inspires confidence in a system designed to protect and insure the workers of a company, said a subcontractor, especially the most vulnerable.
"There was no communication about the TVC reporting process in emails from Sundar, anything from my manager, or anything in the team meetings" , said a contractor in Gizmodo.
Asked to comment if the policies put in place on Thursday apply to TVC, Google referred Gizmodo to a quote from a Internal announcement dated Nov. 8, in which Google says that the recruiting agencies it works with comply with its standards. It reads:
T-V-Cs are an important part of our extended community. We investigate all cases in which a T-V-C files a complaint against an employee and ask suppliers to do the same for T-V-C complaints and we report any potential complaints. In addition, we recently expanded the scope of our Supplier Code of Conduct and asked Google's suppliers to "demonstrate their commitment to identifying, measuring and enhancing a culture of diversity and inclusion across all organizations. aspects of workplace management ". This contractual agreement also concerns suppliers. responsible for maintaining "a program that provides workers with a means to report their grievances anonymously and without fear of reprisal, unless prohibited by law". We will continue to regularly review the compliance of our suppliers with these provisions. For suppliers using Google's T-V-Cs, we will consider the findings of these reviews to determine whether to maintain our relationship with suppliers.
In response to Pichai's announcement Thursday that Google would improve its process of reporting sexual harassment to full-time employees, the walkout organizers said the steps were promising but did not meet all of their requests. They also stressed the need to improve the process for TVCs in a Medium article published Thursday night, which states that CTVs "play a vital role in the overall business, but do not enjoy only a few job-related advantages of technology companies. They are also largely people of color, immigrants and people from the working class.
Stephanie Parker, policy specialist at Google and one of the walkout organizers, said in an article, "We demand a truly fair culture, and Google's leadership can do this by integrating employee representation into the boardroom." Administration and granting all the rights and protections necessary to contract workers., Our most vulnerable workers, many of whom are black and brown women."
Although the two contractors we spoke to agreed with the many requests made by the walkout organizers, some full-time employees may not understand how sensitive their positions are. One of the contractors stated that during the walkout in New York, he surprised other contractors (you can easily identify them with the help of their red badges), pointing out that their job insecurity and its consequences on their motivation to denounce a fault were not really taken into account. during the disengagement or in the press.
"I feel they have covered the necessities," said one contractor, adding that a clear explanation of how entrepreneurs can share their workplace concerns is not "a benefit, it's is indispensable ".
Do you have information about Google's treatment of allegations of misconduct and workplace concerns? You can send me an email to [email protected]. You can also contact us anonymously via SecureDrop.
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