Apple store workers should be paid for time waiting to be searched, court rules

Apple has $209 billion in cash on hand.

California law requires Apple Inc. to pay its workers for being searched before they leave retail stores, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously Thursday.

A group of Apple workers filed a class-action lawsuit against the tech giant, charging they were required to submit to searches before leaving the stores but were not compensated for the time those searches required. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case is now pending, asked the California Supreme Court to clarify whether state law requires compensation.

In a decision written by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the court said an industrial wage order defines hours worked as "the time during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer, and includes all the time the employee is suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so."

I repeat, Apple has $209 billion in cash on hand. Since it's really hard to imagine how much even just one billion dollars really is, this demonstration should give you a very good idea. One billion dollars is way, way, way more than you think it is.

Apple has 209 times that in cash on hand.