Apple Company has many suppliers; the suppliers of the company provide jobs to more than 1.6 million individuals in various countries. Each of the employees has the right to be treated with respect and dignity. Apple is devoted to making sure that the working environment in Apple’s chain of supply is safe. The suppliers sign a contract to pledge that in all their undertakings, they will work in accordance with the rules and regulations of their specific countries. Apple’s Suppliers Code of Conduct depicts the internationally recognized standards; this is to help in the advancement of social and environmental duties. Defilement of the codes of conduct may lead to instantaneous termination as a supplier to the company.
The code of conduct is sculpted and encompasses language from the code of conduct of the Electronic Industry (Moren, 2014). In addition to this, it has renowned standards, for instance, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as well as standards given by institutions such as the International Labor Organization, Ethical Trading Initiatives (ETI) and Social Accountability International (SAI). All these organizations are used as references when preparing this code. Apart from the codes, the company upholds some standards that explain its prospects for obedience. In 2016, the changes the company made aimed at curtailing the extreme working hours and addressing the underage labor practices. The conduct also protects the environment by ensuring the safe use of chemicals, maintenance of natural resources, energy proficiency and use of renewable energy.
Apple works together with its suppliers to make sure they uphold their code of conduct. The suppliers of the company have to ensure accountability (Staff, 2015). Consequently, to do this, an audit should be carried out. An audit is a chance to improve and build the capabilities of the suppliers. Apple has established a process to help the suppliers obey the code of conduct. The process has for stages; audit prioritization, the company uses a method based on risk to determine the suppliers to be audited. Issues such as the environmental, social, health and business risk of a supplier are put into consideration. The audits are prioritized centered on the geographical risk, the commodity they supply and the past performance of the audit. The company looks at the complaints raised by external shareholders and by internal Apple team. Each concern is evaluated accordingly, depending on its importance. If the concern is very urgent, the company releases a team immediately. If not, the team is dispatched within 24 hours.
The second stage is an onsite audit, here apple together with the local experts interview the employees, assess payroll documents, evaluates the health condition of the facility and examine the environmental conditions around the facility. The facility is then graded on more than 500 data points’ equivalent to the code of conduct. While evaluating each facility, the company looks for basic violations such as employment of underage workers, involuntary labor, and fabrication of documents and bullying of workers that take part in audits. In the case of any breach, it is reported to senior management at Apple and the supplier. Suppliers that are disobedient are put on probation until they effectively finish their next audit. Basic violations have a negative effect on the relationship Apple has with its suppliers and can result in its termination.
In the third stage, the defiant suppliers should submit a Counteractive Action Plan two weeks after the audit, explaining how they will solve the problems found. The company has a team of verification specialists that work with the suppliers in intervals of thirty days to keep them on track. The final stage in this code of conduct is verifying improvements. After 120 days, the third-party auditors visit the facility to ensure that the facility has implemented the issues listed in the Corrective Action Plan. Apple can also provide extra support to the company to help in compliance with the Code of Conduct. It sends a group of experts as a portion of the partnership program. Apple improves business practices and systems of management relating to human rights, labor, health and safety, and the environment.
The second code of conduct Apple has changed worker’s rights and human rights (Will, 2015). Apple ensures fair treatment of employees who work in their suppliers’. Apple works with the suppliers to end bonded labor, underage employment and too much working hours. It also makes sure the materials are responsibly sourced. Bonded labor takes place when the employees pay recruitment fee before they receive a salary, this forces them to be in debt. For instance, in Asia people travel across the continent in search of better payment, corrupt job brokers often swindle these people. Apple does not condone such practices. If such a case is discovered, the supplier is forced to repay the employees recruitment fee. Since 2008, over 25.6 million dollars have been repaid.
In 2005, 4.7 million dollars was spent in repayment alone. In 2015, Apple also audited all the facilities at risk of bonded labor and did 69 special investigations. Apple has also formed a partnership with International Organization for Migration to establish a program that educates the employees of their rights and responsibilities. If Apple finds underage employees in the suppliers’ factory, the suppliers are forced to return the children home, pay for their education and continue giving income for the basic needs until they attain they meet the legal working age. After they finish their education, suppliers should provide reemployment. Apple limits its workers to work for a maximum of 60 hours per week, with a compulsory day of rest each week. Apple has made this possible with the help of work-hour tracking tool and taking weekly reports. In 2015, this system succeeded in reaching 97 percent obedience across all work weeks. In 2015, Apple conducted a research together with the Tin Working Group to establish a five-year reform plan of the best mining practices. They also outlined standards and regulations to assist the buyers of tin to find responsible sources in the international market.
The third code of conduct is empowering employees (Kaiser, 2012). In some countries, employees may lack access to quality of education. Apple, therefore, offers to train factories to assist the workers to be more informed and offer classes to help them make the necessary steps in their carriers and improve their level of education. From 2008, the suppliers have educated over 9.25 million employees to understand local laws, health and safety rules and the Apple Code of Conduct. Apple expects the supervisors of the factory to maintain proper employment policies and a conducive environment. Apple also teaches on how to communicate effectively with the workers.
The final code of conduct involves respecting the environments we stay and work in (Moren, 2014). The suppliers’ facilities have a great impact on the environment and the people who create our products. Apple workers together with its suppliers should enforce strict environmental regulations and protect the employees with the correct equipment. Apple encourages manufacturing while having the world in mind. Apple has replaced old and incompetent heating, lighting and cooling systems. A year after starting this project at 13 sites, there was a reduction in around 13800 metric tons of carbon emissions. In addition to this, in 2015, Apple released the Clean Energy Program to reduce the emission of carbon across our supply chain. In China, the suppliers installed more than 2 gigawatts of clean energy.
In an effort to protect the environment, Apple also encourages the suppliers to make products with fewer by-products. In 2015, Apple started a program in 22 factories to assist the suppliers to decrease, reuse or recycle. Apple also worked closely with the local government to ensure that the waste products are properly disposed of. These efforts have averted 73,773 metric tons of waste from land. Apple also encourages reuse and recycling of water. The water used by the suppliers comes from the communities they function in. In 2013, Apple started the Clean Water Program to reduce the use of freshwater in the processes. Apple discovered that the suppliers were consuming a lot of water. As a result, it conducted, baseline assessments, technical supports, supplier training and performance assessments to help save more than 3.8 billion tons of fresh water.
Suppliers are responsible for upholding the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility. Presently, Apple has made a lot of progress. It continues to address the issues that arise throughout the supply chain. Apple works together with industry partners, local governments, Non-governmental Organizations and others who have a similar target of improving the quality of lives and taking care of the surrounding. The aim of Apple is always to do what is right by providing better services.
References
Kaiser, T. (2012). Apple's Suppliers Continuously Violate Code of Conduct, Apple does Nothing to Change it. Daily Tech.
Moren, D. (2014, February 13). Apple's 2014 supplier report: Better working conditions, fewer conflict minerals. Macworld.
Staff, T. G. (2015, February 16). Apple Increases Supplier Audits by 42% in 2014. Green SCM.
Will, G. (2015, February 14). Apple 'terminated relationships' with 18 suppliers due to sustainability code violations. Supply Management.
