IBM classes tech workers in Brazil as sales? This is a new low even for tech companies setting up contracting tech workers. ----- RestOfWorld: "Why IBM employees in Brazil are suing to be classified as tech workers. Unions in two Brazilian states are suing IBM in an effort to be recognized as tech employees, giving them access to better wages, benefits, and profit participation." (LAÍS MARTINS) (APRIL 24, 2024) "--IBM is registered as a sales company in Brazil, making its employees ineligible for benefits granted to tech workers. --Workers in the state of Minas Gerais won a lawsuit against the company to be recognized as IT employees. --Galvanized by the successful lawsuit, workers in another state are following suit, opening the possibility for a flood of legal action against IBM. Galvanized by the win in Minas Gerais, a string of unions in Brazilian states have filed lawsuits against IBM — a technology giant that generated $61.9 billion in revenue last year, with around 427,000 employees worldwide. The lawsuits call for the company to recognize its employees as tech workers, and give them the perks associated with this role. Sales workers, which is how IBM currently categorizes its employees in Brazil, are ineligible for these benefits. In 2021, an IT union in the southern state of Paraná launched a suit against IBM on the same grounds — if judges rule in its favor, the tech workers’ union in São Paulo plans to relaunch its own legal battle, Antonio Neto, president of the IT workers’ union of São Paulo, told Rest of World. “IBM is purely IT. In fact, it’s hard to find a company that is as IT as IBM is,” Leandro Ghizini Smargiassi, a lawyer for the Minas Gerais union who led the lawsuit, told Rest of World. IBM’s refusal to register as such, he said, “is an insult to labor laws.” In Brazil, the work conditions for tech workers are different from those for sales employees. For instance, sales workers have a 44-hour workweek — four hours more than the limit for tech workers. The latter are also entitled to a higher minimum wage, overtime pay, and profit participation — a year-end bonus that depends on the company’s annual profit. In court, the Minas Gerais union argued that IBM is not a sales company and that its main activity is software development. To prove its point, the union underscored the fact that IBM is a member of the Brazilian Association for Information Technology and Communication Companies (Brasscom). The unions believe that IBM registered as a sales company in Brazil to get a commercial advantage. “If you look at the applicable labor laws for IT, they are more costly than for sales,” said Smargiassi. “If they register as [sales], they’ll have a lower cost, enabling them to have a higher earning.” (keep reading, long article) RestOfWorld: https://lnkd.in/g5Dfap2G #techlegal #unions #laborunuions #techunions
Anand Bodhe
2mo
that situation is wild! ibm stuck in a twist with tech and sales.
CEO & Founder at Symbol Zero // Microsoft Regional Director
2mo"Why IBM employees in Brazil are suing to be classified as tech workers Unions in two Brazilian states are suing IBM in an effort to be recognized as tech employees, giving them access to better wages, benefits, and profit participation." Laís Martins is a Labor x Tech reporting fellow at Rest of World based in São Paulo, Brazil. https://restofworld.org/2024/ibm-lawsuit-brazil/