Apple bans employee Slack channel on pay equity

But it is permitting channels devoted to dogs and dad jokes

Apple has reportedly banned a Slack channel a group of employees created to discuss salary information.

A representative of Apple's employee relations team told workers that the topic violated the company's Slack terms of use, despite being "aligned with Apple's commitment to pay equity".

"Slack channels are provided to conduct Apple business and must advance the work, deliverables, or mission of Apple departments and teams," the representative said.

Apple's rules for Slack clearly state that employees should not create Slack channels for activities that are not recognised as Apple Employee clubs or Diversity Network Associations (DNAs).

However, Apple doesn't appear to enforce these rules strictly. It permits many channels devoted to non-work topics, such as gaming, dogs, dad jokes and foosball, some of which have membership in the thousands.

Employment attorney Vincent P. White told The Verge that Apple's ban is a seemingly inconsistent enforcement of Slack rules. He added that the company is likely using the Slack Use of Terms as a way to protect itself legally, because employees in a company are protected by law to discuss pay disparities.

"Discussing pay equity is a protected activity under federal, state, and local law," White said.

"Everyone agrees on that. For them to try and impair employees' ability to discuss pay equity and diversity in the workplace is a clear-cut act of retaliation."

Apple has seen an uptick in employee activism in recent years, for a variety of reasons.

The company has shut down multiple employee surveys in the past, which were aimed at gathering salary data.

One survey, by Apple software engineer Cher Scarlett, is still active, according to The Verge. It shows a six per cent gap between the salaries of men and women who participated in the study.

Last week, a group of current and former Apple employees launched a new website under the name AppleToo, inviting colleagues to share stories of harassment, discrimination and retaliation experienced while working at the company.

'For too long, Apple has evaded public scrutiny,' the group stated.

'The truth is that for many Apple workers ... the culture of secrecy creates an opaque, intimidating fortress. When we press for accountability and redress to the persistent injustices we witness or experience in our workplace, we are faced with a pattern of isolation, degradation, and gas lighting.'

The protesting workers say they've talked with the leadership many times, and have also gone to Apple's People team, but now want to go public with their complaints, in absence of any changes brought by the leadership.

Last month, Apple's senior engineering program manager Ashley Gjøvik alleged that she was put on indefinite leave after complaining about sexism and unsafe working conditions.

Gjøvik had spent several months speaking with her superiors about years of experiences with unsafe working conditions, sexual harassment, and retaliation at work.

She claimed that after she began to raise her issues in Apple's internal Slack, the company placed her on "indefinite paid administrative leave".

Gjøvik has now launched a website to discuss her experiences at the company.