Dive Brief:
- Employees find many reasons to take employers to task in the courtroom, from safety violations to sexual harassment. Now, it may soon be possible for workers to use their smartphones to document and report those potential risks, according to Citylab.com.
- Citylab reports that an as-yet-to-be-launched app looks to give workers an anonymous, instantaneous path to filing complaints to the appropriate local authorities.
- Currently in the planning stages, the article reports that the app is a collaboration between The Workers Lab, a union-backed accelerator program, and SeeClickFix, a nationwide firm that helps city residents report neighborhood non-emergency issues and problems – from missing stop signs to potholes.
Dive Insight:
Although legal avenues to report workplace issues exist (OSHA, DOL, EEOC), they are not always effective, according to the article. The idea here is a worker can log on to the app, choose from a complaint menu (harassment, safety issue, etc.) and then can electronically submit their complaint anonymously (or not). The complaint is whisked off to the Department of Labor or an appropriate worker center for further investigation.
The article notes that the app is aimed more at low-paid, unskilled workers who don't have the luxury of an HR department for filing complaints. Plus, the fear of retaliation is an issue for that worker group. For example, the article cites a 2009 report from the National Employment Law Project that found 43% of low-wage workers surveyed in Chicago, New York, and L.A. say that filing a complaint led to retaliation – and 20% feared job loss or hours/wages cut.
In mid-March, the Worker’s Lab and SeeClickFix will meet with 20 different worker centers to collaborate on final design. The creators are are looking to release the app by year's end.
