The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a complaint against Grindr. According to allegations, the company claims that its return-to-office mandate, which enforced in-office work and required numerous employee relocations, was a ploy to thwart a unionization effort by restricting distant work options. As of late, approximately 80 out of Grindr’s 178 employees have resigned due to a relentless push for remote work arrangements over the past year, according to the Communications Workers of America.
The National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel has accused Grindr of violating labour regulations by taking retaliatory action against staff seeking to organize. The company allegedly failed to recognize the union’s legitimacy, refusing to engage in meaningful negotiations and potentially violating labour laws.
A Grindr representative dismissed the allegations as “baseless,” noting that staff began signing up for union representation only after learning about plans to switch back to in-office work.
Pursuant to the company’s work arrangement policy, as of August 4th, employees are now required to spend a minimum of two days per week in the office. More than two-thirds of employees voted to unionize in July. By late August, nearly half of the workforce was forced to abandon their jobs. This, in part, was attributed to relocation necessities.
According to the union, relocating would have forced some transgender staff members at Grindr to find new healthcare providers, presenting additional challenges. The RTO mandate compelled employees to make a choice between terminating their tenure at Grindr or relocating to their designated group hub city, requiring in-person work two times per week, as the Communications Workers of America (CWA) filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint against Grindr in September 2023. Most employees who had previously worked remotely were unexpectedly compelled to return to offices located in five major hubs: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., all of which are Grindr workplaces.
For the second time this year, Grindr has found itself in hot water. Last year, a company faced backlash after it was accused of sharing sensitive personal information – including HIV statuses, test dates, ethnicities, and sexual orientations – with advertising firms without obtaining customers’ explicit consent.
