The Alphabet Workers Union representing Google employees has filed a complaint with the state alleging that Google did not provide adequate notice of mass layoffs that occurred in Mountain View in April.
The union claims that Google announced the layoff of hundreds of employees on its mobile device teams on April 11, which was reported by news organizations at the time. But according to the union, neither Google nor its parent company Alphabet filed a Cal-WARN Notice with the Employment Development Department.
The Cal-WARN Act requires employers to provide a 60-day notice to workers and state and local government officials before a mass layoff so that they have adequate time to prepare for the economic impact.
Google contests the allegations and says the team changes announced in April did not rise to the level of needing to file a WARN notice.
“We’re in full compliance with all applicable WARN laws, and as we always do, we provided employees whose roles were impacted with the required notice period. Any suggestion otherwise is simply untrue and not based on the facts,” a Google spokesperson told the Voice on June 25.
The Alphabet Workers Union however says that the layoffs impacted more than 150 employees in Mountain View, according to a complaint submitted to the California Department of Industrial Relations on June 17.
The complaint alleges that Google informed workers in April that their positions were being eliminated and they had 60 days to find a new role at the company or they would be terminated. At least 99 workers lost their jobs as of June 15, according to the filing.
The union also claims that Google should have informed Mountain View about the layoffs. Google had a legal obligation to tell the city, said Gavin Achtemeier, a Google software engineer and union organizer who spoke at a City Council meeting on June 24.
“The WARN Act was specifically written for cities like Mountain View, cities with single employers that employ a large portion or otherwise provide large portions of revenue to the city and to people who work there,” Achtemeier said.
Mountain View spokesperson Lenka Wright told the Voice that the city has not received a WARN notice from Google about layoffs this year, adding that the city has reached out to Google for more information about it.
At the council meeting, union organizers urged the city to enforce the Cal-WARN Act.
“Our union is asking each of the council members to publicly affirm that Google must follow the letter of the law by paying laid off workers the wages and benefits that they’re entitled to,” said Andy Blank, a Google software engineer, union organizer and Mountain View resident.
Blank added that the Cal-WARN Act also helps ensure public transparency and accountability.
“Most companies would rather not disclose the details of these mass layoffs. That’s why laws like this exist,” Blank said. “Doing nothing here sets a precedent that employers in Mountain View and everywhere in California can just ignore the law with impunity. Enforcing the law helps us hold employers accountable and provides transparency around mass layoffs.”
This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Emily Margaretten joined the Mountain View Voice in 2023 as a reporter covering City Hall.
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