Apple Inc.

, formerly Apple Computer Inc., is an American multinational corporation

that designs and manufactures consumer electronics and software products. Apple
Computer Inc. was established on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and
Ronald Wayne in Cupertino, California .  The company was called "Apple Computer,
Inc." for its first 30 years, but dropped the word "Computer" on January 9, 2007 to
reflect the company's ongoing expansion into the consumer electronics market. With a
market capitalization of 2.64 trillion U.S. dollars as of April 2021, Apple was the
world's largest company in 2022.

Apple Supplier Code of Conduct

Apple is committed to respecting the highest standards of labor, human rights,
environmental, and ethical conduct. Apple’s suppliers are required to provide safe
working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect, act fairly and ethically, and
use environmentally responsible practices wherever they make products or perform
services for Apple.
Despite its commitments, there seem to be several ethical issues with Apple. And one
of these is their violation of workers’ rights and labor laws. The workers that make its
products face a myriad of abuses: poverty wages, excessive and unpaid overtime well
in excess of legal limits, long-term exposure to toxic chemicals without proper protective
equipment, unsafe work environments including blocked and locked exits, intense
psychological pressure, and the use of forced student labor. The long hours, extremely
low pay, and high-pressure work environment led to a spate of suicides, beginning in
2010, by workers at Foxconn, one of Apple’s most important suppliers. In the span of a
year, there were at least 18 attempted suicides, resulting in at least 14 deaths. Between
2010 and 2012, another six workers were killed in explosions at iPad factories.
According to reporting by the New York Times, Apple had been warned about the
dangerous conditions inside at least one of the factories but did nothing to prevent the
deadly blast.
Apple and its suppliers failed to implement changes to workers’ pay, including
compensation for unpaid overtime and the adoption of a wage that would cover workers’
basic needs. During the same time period, Apple reported earning nearly $50 billion in
profits. Despite promises to the contrary, workers in Apple’s supply chain in China
continued to work overtime hours in violation of legal limits. The promise to “establish a
genuine voice for workers” was never fulfilled.

Apple Company violates its employees’ rights and labor laws. This is evidenced by the
long working hours its employees have to perform their tasks. Audits done in the
company revealed that the employees were working in the company for a duration of
more than 60 hours a week and some employees worked in the organization for a
duration of more than six days a week. The company is involved in the employment of
children who are less than 15 years and provides false information in their records. The
employees are paid less wages as compared to the duration of their work (Zimmerli,
2006).
The employees responsible for marketing these innovations are required by the
organization to work for long periods of time causing burnout and exhaustion to these
employees. Employees have faced incidences of injuries such as motion injuries,
injuries due to exposure to toxic chemical substances, and the provision of unhealthy
working conditions under the pretext of promoting innovations contributing to the
violation of the employees’ labor rights hence, engaging in unethical behaviors
(Creemer, 2009).

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Apple Inc. - New World Encyclopedia
Biggest companies in the world by market cap 2022 | Statista
Worker-Driven Social Responsibility Network | Case Study: Apple Inc. (China) (wsr-
network.org)