Google announced Thursday that it is ending forced arbitration for its workforce. The change means employees will no longer have to take their disputes with Google to an arbitrator theyll have the option of suing the company individually or together as a group.

Workers whove signed arbitration agreements cant take their claims to a public court. Instead, they take them to an arbitrator, usually through an arbitration service thats paid by the employer. Companies like forced arbitration because it helps avoid large, costly lawsuits that lead to big payouts for workers. It also helps keep allegations of wrongdoing out of the public eye, since everything is litigated behind closed doors before the arbitrator.

Googles turnaround on arbitration follows months of employee criticism of the practice; 20,000 employees took part in a November walkout that drew international attention. Workers listed forced arbitration as a key grievance, saying it hid workplace abuses and left them with little leverage against a powerful employer.