Walk Free+MSA incidents identified+Apple Inc.+2018+Discussion
No identification of any specific incidents related to modern slavery that required remediation, though did include historical analysis of MSA.
We encourage workers to report any
retaliation to us, and we, along with our third-party audit partners, follow up with all suppliers
to address any reported issue. In 2018, nearly 36,000 phone calls were made to workers to
ensure that they were not retaliated against for sharing a concern. We also have an internal
system that enables our employees to alert Apple if they perceive an issue within their office,
or if they visit a facility and see or hear something of concern. Following each submission,
Apple investigates the reported issue to determine whether the report identifies a violation
of our Supplier Code and Standards. In 2018, 17 incidents were reported and investigated,
with the SR team following up on each within 24 hours.6
If a supplier is unwilling
or unable to meet our requirements, the supplier risks being removed from Apple’s supply
chain. To date, 20 manufacturing supplier facilities have been removed from our supply
chain. Smelters and refiners deeper in our supply chain are held to similar standards
and if they exhibit a lack of commitment to meet our Supplier Code and Standards, they
risk losing Apple’s business. In 2018, five tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold, and two cobalt
smelters and refiners were removed from our supply chain. The names of these suppliers
have been included on a “Do Not Source List” that is published on an internal website
available to Apple employees.4
In 2018, two cases of debt-bonded labor were uncovered
in Japan at two supplier sites. In each case, the supplier was required to repay all fees to
their impacted employees. A total of US$616,000 in recruitment fees was repaid to
287 supplier employees. 7