Apple will reportedly give retail workers unlimited sick leave if they show symptoms of COVID-19
- Apple's hourly staff, including retail workers, will reportedly receive unlimited sick leave if they experience COVID-19 symptoms.
- According to 9to5Mac, which first reported the news, Apple's retail workers are not required to submit a doctor's note before taking this time off.
- It's not clear whether or not employees taking this sick leave will be paid.
- Apple CEO Tim Cook has already told staff at Apple's California, Seattle, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, and UK offices that they can work from home this week "if their job allows."
- Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
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Apple's hourly staff, including retail workers, will reportedly receive unlimited sick leave if they experience COVID-19 symptoms.
According to 9to5Mac, which first reported the news, Apple's retail workers won't be required to submit a doctor's note before taking this time off. Apple's US retail stores currently remain open, though it's unclear how long this will be the case.
It's also unclear whether or not employees taking this sick leave will be paid throughout, though Apple CEO Tim Cook has said employees working from home will be paid as normal.
In an internal memo sent over the weekend, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg, Cook told staff at Apple's California, Seattle, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, and UK offices that they can work from home this week "if their job allows."
He reportedly added that hourly workers at all affected offices will "continue to receive pay in alignment with business-as-usual operations."
As Business Insider reported Friday, a source familiar with the matter said employees in Santa Clara Valley - the location of Apple's Cupertino headquarters, in the San Francisco Bay Area - had already been recommended to work from home.
The measures taken by Apple to protect its staff from coronavirus largely mirror those taken by its peers.
Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Twitter have all asked staff to stay away from their Silicon Valley and Seattle HQs, while Google and Jack Dorsey's Square have stopped in-person job interviews.
In an interview with Fox Business earlier this month, Tim Cook said he's "very optimistic" China has the coronavirus under control, and emphasized that Apple was reopening factories in the country.
Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
