A Detailed Report on Human Rights Violations within Apple's Operations

This report analyzes human rights violations within Apple Inc., focusing on issues in its supply chain, particularly in Chinese manufacturing units like Pegatron and Foxconn. The report highlights concerns related to excessive working hours, low wages, and poor labor conditions, including forced overtime and inadequate safety measures, which are against Chinese human rights laws. It references investigations by the Fair Labor Association and China Labor Watch, which revealed issues such as unsafe working environments, exposure to hazardous substances, and blocked safety exits. The report also discusses Apple's responses and claims of implementing policies for employee welfare, while emphasizing the need for corporations to prioritize a safe and ethical workplace. The conclusion stresses the importance of implementing proper policies and procedures to ensure employee welfare in accordance with Human Rights Law and UNGPs.

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Human Rights Violation in Apple

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Human rights violation in Apple.....................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The human rights are the fundamental rights of an individual as per which each person is
worthy of respect and should be treated with dignity. There exists a major relationship between
business and human rights as they prove to be a major instrument for promotion and realization
of human rights. The United Nations Human Rights Council has developed a framework for
determining the relationship between business and human rights. The workforce diversity have
the right to speak, right to debate, right to receive remuneration for the work done by them as per
the guiding principles on business and human rights (UNGPs) (Turmen, 2012). In this context,
the present report aims to analyze the Human Rights issues of Apple Inc.
Human rights violation in Apple
Apple Inc., a world-famous American multinational technology company, involved in
designing and development of electronics and software products, has admitted of facing issues
related with human rights (Annual Report, 2016). The company has faced criticism due to labor
issues within the workplace related to working hours, remuneration and compensation of its
employees. The major issue associated with Human Rights has occurred in its China-based
manufacturing unit involved in designing and development of iPads and iPhones. The Pegatron
and Foxconn recognized as major suppliers of Apple faces allegations regarding the labor
conditions within their workplace. The main allegations include forced overtime hours, low
wages and no provisions regarding the payment for extra time worked by the employees. The
poor labor conditions at the premises of major suppliers of Apples are regarded to be against the
Chinese laws developed for protection of human rights (Kahn, 2016).

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Also, the employees of the company have also claimed mental health issues due to the
excessive work and unsatisfactory remuneration policy (Apple Supplier Code of Conduct, 2017).
The company was largely criticized by the campaigners of human rights for ethical violations of
its Chinese factories and also not responding properly to any complaints raised by the worker for
compensation and excessive work in its Chinese units. The campaigners impose several
allegations on the company including excessive long hours, improper safety conditions and fatal
accidents that occurred in its number of business units in China (Turmen, 2012). The Fair Labor
Association had investigated the workplace environment of its Chinese units and inferred that the
company need to employ more staff and implement proper safety ensures for overcoming the
poor labor conditions in its Chinese units.
The company had also admitted the violation of human right law in its Chinese units after
the investigation of Fair Labor Association. Also, the report from China Labor Watch (CLW)
had claimed that the workers do not have proper training on handling hazardous substances in its
Pegatron supplier division. The workers as such were exposed to many toxic chemicals
including arsenic, mercury and chromium on a regular basis (World Report, 2012). Also, it was
highlighted during auditing of the company supply chain that safety exits within its factory
premises are blocked. Thus, the investigation by China Labor Watch (CLW) has imposed an
allegation of 23 categories of legal and ethical labor rights at its Pegatron supplier unit in China
(Foley, 2012).
The following violation was put against the company from the China Labor Watch
report:

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 The compensation of workers in the year 2016 was raised to $2.00 USD but the amount
after deduction remained to only $1.60 USD, which is very low in comparison to $1.85
USD in the year 2015 (Ethical Consumer, 2017).
 The Chinese Human Rights Law restricts businesses for asking overtime work from the
inetrens. However, the interns at the business units of Apple in China were attributed to
work overtime at 80 hours per month on an average basis. This overtime work was
approximately around full time work employment.
 The wage rate per hour was very low and the workers receive very low amount as
remuneration about $213 USD after reduction of all the expenses.
 The workers of the production line were also forced to arrive 10 minutes before the
scheduled time but they did not receive compensation for the extra time.
 The factory workers were forced to do overtime and also were not granted any leave
during the peak season (Kahn, 2016).
The company in its annual report had claimed to implement all the proper policies and
procedures for promoting employee welfare and safety (Annual Report, 2016). However, after
analysis of the report of CLW it can be stated that the company had not taken proper measures
for improving the labor conditions within its workplace (Cuthbertson, 2017). There is increased
need of placing focus on providing a better workplace environment to the labor on the part of
management by the company. The campaigners, in this context, have emphasized on the need of
global corporations to identify and execute their responsibilities towards proving a safe
workplace environment to the labor. However, there are still evident issues related to human
rights violations in the multinational corporations as seen in the case of Apple (Toor, 2014). The

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human rights issue occurred in the Apple are due to lack of collective bargaining rights of labor
and non-adoption of adequate international employment framework principles (Apple Supplier
Responsibility, 2012).
Conclusion
Thus, it can be said from the overall discussion that multinational corporations need to
place important measures for ensuring employee welfare as per the Human Rights Law. The
occurrence of human rights issues in Apple has demonstrated the need of implementing proper
policies and procedures within the workplace for employee safety and welfare. This is important
as per the UNGPs, businesses holds a prominent role in advancing human rights within their
workplace for promoting the welfare of the society as a whole.

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References
Annual Report 2016. Apple Inc. [Online]. Available at:
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AAPL/5113970642x0x913905/66363059-7FB6-4710-
B4A5-7ABFA14CF5E6/10-K_2016_9.24.2016_-_as_filed.pdf [Accessed on: 3 September,
2017].
Apple Supplier Code of Conduct. 2017. [Online]. Available at:
https://images.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/pdf/Apple-Supplier-Code-of-Conduct-
January.pdf [Accessed on: 3 September, 2017].
Apple Supplier Responsibility. 2012. [Online]. Available at: https://images.apple.com/supplier-
responsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2012_Progress_Report.pdf [Accessed on: 3 September, 2017].
Cuthbertson, A. 2017. I-Phone 6s factory investigation reveals Apple still violates human rights
of workers. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/iphone-6s-factory-investigation-
reveals-apple-still-violates-human-rights-workers-1525151 [Accessed on: 3 September, 2017].
Ethical Consumer. 2017. [Online]. Available at:
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/companystories.aspx?CompanyId=12944&CategoryId=421
[Accessed on: 3 September, 2017].
Foley, S. 2012. Apple admits it has a human rights problem. [Online]. Available at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/apple-admits-it-has-a-human-rights-problem-
6898617.html [Accessed on: 3 September, 2017].

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Kahn, J. 2016. Report details workers’ rights violations at Apple’s iPhone 7 supplier Pegatron.
[Online]. Available at:https://9to5mac.com/2016/08/25/apple-china-labor-watch-pegatron-
iphone-7-workers-rights/ [Accessed on: 3 September, 2017].
Toor, A. 2014. Apple is 'deeply offended' by BBC's labor abuse allegations. [Online]. Available
at: https://www.theverge.com/2014/12/19/7420603/apple-tim-cook-offended-allegations-labor-
abuse-supplier-china [Accessed on: 3 September, 2017].
Turmen, R. 2012. Contemporary Issues in Human Rights. [Online]. Available at:
http://sam.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/RizaTurmen1.pdf [Accessed on: 3 September,
2017].
World Report. 2012. [Online]. Available at:
https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2013_web.pdf [Accessed on: 3 September, 2017].