Microsoft trumpets updated HR-friendly policies (that comply with recently changed laws)
(2022/06/09)
- Reference: 1654761671
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/06/09/microsoft_hr_policy_updates/
- Source link:
Microsoft has announced changes to labour relations policy for its US workforce that touch on noncompete clauses, confidentiality agreements and pay transparency.
“Microsoft is announcing new changes and investments aimed at further deepening our employee relationships and enhancing our workplace culture,” [1]wrote HR execs Amy Pannoni and Amy Coleman on the company blog.
The pair wrote that the changes reflect employee fedback.
[2]
They also reflect changes to laws in Microsoft’s home state of Washington, specifically with regards to pay transparency and non-disclosure agreements.
[3]
[4]
Microsoft says it prohibited the practice of asking job applicants for salary history several years ago and will publicly disclose salary ranges in its internal and external US job postings by January 2023. That date coincides with the day amendments to the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunity Act come into effect, requiring employers to disclose information about pay and other benefits in job postings in the state.
Microsoft has been in trouble in the past in this arena. Just last month it’s professional social network LinkedIn [5]settled with the US Department of Labor over charges it systematically underpaid women in engineering, product and marketing roles.
[6]
The other change - again meeting requirements under Washington law - concerns policies on employees’ rights to discuss or share terms and conditions of employment or possible employer misconduct. Or as Microsoft puts it “fostering a safe space for concerns.”
“Separate from employee agreements, there have been times when Microsoft resolved disputes with employees or provided separation benefits through agreements that had typically included confidentiality provisions,” said the company.
“Microsoft’s U.S. settlement and separation agreements no longer include confidentiality language that prohibits workers from disclosing alleged conduct that they perceive is illegal discrimination, harassment, retaliation, sexual assault, or a wage and hour violation occurring in the workplace,” the post explains.
[7]
In March 2022, Washington governor Jay Inslee signed the Silence No More Act, which prohibited agreements containing nondisclosure provisions on settlements related to workplace incidents, thereby making it difficult for companies to cover up bad behaviour like wage violations and sexual harassment.
That law goes into effect Thursday 9 June, a day after Microsoft announced the policy change.
In 2019 Microsoft received attention surrounding normalized workplace harassment when an email chain detailed female work experiences full of personal accounts of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and microaggressions. Since then, it was [8]alleged that founder and former CEO Bill Gates himself had a "reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings."
[9]Philanthropist and ex-Microsoft manager Melinda Gates and her husband Bill split after 27 years of marriage
[10]Microsoft shareholders vote for a report into harassment within the company
[11]Microsoft investor urges shareholders to vote for a deep dive into pay gap and harassment policies
[12]IBM cannot kill this age-discrimination lawsuit linked to CEO
The other policy change involves the removal of noncompete clauses, which are actually only enforceable in certain jurisdictions to begin with. For example, in California, they are automatically void except in extremely limited situations. In other states it can be less clear cut, but state laws in general trend toward limiting or banning their enforcement.
“While our existing employee agreements have noncompete obligations, we do not endorse the use of such provisions as a retention tool,“ said Microsoft, as it announced it is removing them in the US, with the exception of senior leadership.
In addition to the changes, Microsoft said it would conduct a third-party civil rights audit of its workforce policies and practices, guided by U.S. civil rights law with the intent of identifying addressable issues. The Register reached out to Microsoft to find out if there were any plans to extend the policies to international employees and will update if there is a response. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2022/06/08/microsoft-announces-four-new-employee-workforce-initiatives/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YqHEw3b9VO9YZcUpA3BXlAAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YqHEw3b9VO9YZcUpA3BXlAAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YqHEw3b9VO9YZcUpA3BXlAAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/03/linkedin_settles_department_of_labor/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YqHEw3b9VO9YZcUpA3BXlAAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YqHEw3b9VO9YZcUpA3BXlAAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/17/bill_gates_allegations/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/03/bill_melinda_gates_divorce/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/01/microsoft_harassment/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/22/microsoft_harassment/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/25/ibm_motion_age_discrimination/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
“Microsoft is announcing new changes and investments aimed at further deepening our employee relationships and enhancing our workplace culture,” [1]wrote HR execs Amy Pannoni and Amy Coleman on the company blog.
The pair wrote that the changes reflect employee fedback.
[2]
They also reflect changes to laws in Microsoft’s home state of Washington, specifically with regards to pay transparency and non-disclosure agreements.
[3]
[4]
Microsoft says it prohibited the practice of asking job applicants for salary history several years ago and will publicly disclose salary ranges in its internal and external US job postings by January 2023. That date coincides with the day amendments to the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunity Act come into effect, requiring employers to disclose information about pay and other benefits in job postings in the state.
Microsoft has been in trouble in the past in this arena. Just last month it’s professional social network LinkedIn [5]settled with the US Department of Labor over charges it systematically underpaid women in engineering, product and marketing roles.
[6]
The other change - again meeting requirements under Washington law - concerns policies on employees’ rights to discuss or share terms and conditions of employment or possible employer misconduct. Or as Microsoft puts it “fostering a safe space for concerns.”
“Separate from employee agreements, there have been times when Microsoft resolved disputes with employees or provided separation benefits through agreements that had typically included confidentiality provisions,” said the company.
“Microsoft’s U.S. settlement and separation agreements no longer include confidentiality language that prohibits workers from disclosing alleged conduct that they perceive is illegal discrimination, harassment, retaliation, sexual assault, or a wage and hour violation occurring in the workplace,” the post explains.
[7]
In March 2022, Washington governor Jay Inslee signed the Silence No More Act, which prohibited agreements containing nondisclosure provisions on settlements related to workplace incidents, thereby making it difficult for companies to cover up bad behaviour like wage violations and sexual harassment.
That law goes into effect Thursday 9 June, a day after Microsoft announced the policy change.
In 2019 Microsoft received attention surrounding normalized workplace harassment when an email chain detailed female work experiences full of personal accounts of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and microaggressions. Since then, it was [8]alleged that founder and former CEO Bill Gates himself had a "reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings."
[9]Philanthropist and ex-Microsoft manager Melinda Gates and her husband Bill split after 27 years of marriage
[10]Microsoft shareholders vote for a report into harassment within the company
[11]Microsoft investor urges shareholders to vote for a deep dive into pay gap and harassment policies
[12]IBM cannot kill this age-discrimination lawsuit linked to CEO
The other policy change involves the removal of noncompete clauses, which are actually only enforceable in certain jurisdictions to begin with. For example, in California, they are automatically void except in extremely limited situations. In other states it can be less clear cut, but state laws in general trend toward limiting or banning their enforcement.
“While our existing employee agreements have noncompete obligations, we do not endorse the use of such provisions as a retention tool,“ said Microsoft, as it announced it is removing them in the US, with the exception of senior leadership.
In addition to the changes, Microsoft said it would conduct a third-party civil rights audit of its workforce policies and practices, guided by U.S. civil rights law with the intent of identifying addressable issues. The Register reached out to Microsoft to find out if there were any plans to extend the policies to international employees and will update if there is a response. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2022/06/08/microsoft-announces-four-new-employee-workforce-initiatives/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YqHEw3b9VO9YZcUpA3BXlAAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YqHEw3b9VO9YZcUpA3BXlAAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YqHEw3b9VO9YZcUpA3BXlAAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/03/linkedin_settles_department_of_labor/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YqHEw3b9VO9YZcUpA3BXlAAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YqHEw3b9VO9YZcUpA3BXlAAAAAw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/17/bill_gates_allegations/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/03/bill_melinda_gates_divorce/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/01/microsoft_harassment/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/22/microsoft_harassment/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/25/ibm_motion_age_discrimination/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: "we do not endorse the use of such provisions as a retention tool“
Warm Braw
When I worked for TfL, new recruits were subject to a day of painfully-formulaic diversity and inclusiveness "awareness", emphasizing the organization's commitment to combating all forms of discrimination.
Shortly afterwards, they were obliged to amend their employment contract terms because they were in conflict with new age-discrimination laws.
Employment contracts emerge from law firms with the intention of ensuring the rights of their clients (the employer) are restricted no more than is strictly necessary and their liabilities minimized. What company official in a large organization is going to put their head above the parapet and suggest a unilateral change that might increase the company's costs - especially relative to their competitors?
This is why meaningful employment rights have to come from legislation.
Re: "we do not endorse the use of such provisions as a retention tool“
Korev
What company official in a large organization is going to put their head above the parapet and suggest a unilateral change that might increase the company's costs - especially relative to their competitors?
This is why meaningful employment rights have to come from legislation.
My employer recently equalised parental for men and women (including same sex couples).
Non compete
elsergiovolador
If you don't want your employee to turn to competition, pay them enough and ensure the work environment is great so they don't think of it.
If employment contract contains any sort of leash, it's a red flag.
"we do not endorse the use of such provisions as a retention tool“
Then why have them in the contract to begin with ?