Google | Employees plan day of protest against employer

It’s been a rough year for Google’s employee relations. Questions were raised about the wellness of its workers after a 22-year-old employee was found dead at his desk follow what reports called a ‘gruelling work schedule’, whilst a major enquiry over sexual harassment at the company in October of last year led to the sacking of no less than 48 employees, including 13 senior managers.

The case led to a media furore in which former CEO Andy Rubin was implicated.

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Workers' rights | Google employees now able to sue firm

Despite the sacking, many employees perceived the firm to not be doing enough. This led to a mass-walkout by some 20,000 of the company’s global worker base of 94,370 employees. “We have the eyes of many companies looking at us,” Google employee Tanuja Gupta told The Verge at the time. “We’ve always been a vanguard company, so if we don’t lead the way, nobody else will,” she added.

In early April, Google confirmed that following the actions, it would change the way in which employees can log complaints based on harassment and discrimination. CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed that the company would make arbitration options for any allegations raised by workers via a dedicated website.