Apple Shakes Up Labor Practices With 'Bonded Servitude' Ban

Apple has taken another step to address criticism about working conditions among its suppliers, banning 'bonded servitude'. This means that henceforth workers will not be forced to work for free until they have paid off the costs associated with hiring them, something that at times amount to more than a full month's salary. Apple has previously said that more than a month's salary in fees was excessive, and now it is banning saddling the workers with the hiring debt altogether.

When it comes time to push out a new product, Apple's suppliers bring in more workers, usually from third-party recruiters, and the workers end up saddled with the fees associated with that. They then enter the job with debt and must work under bonded labor until that debt is paid off.

This practice has been widely criticized, and this past October Apple banned its suppliers from having bonded labor workers on its production line. Instead, the factories need to pay the recruitment fees themselves. Said Apple's senior VP of operations Jeff Williams earlier today, "That fee needs to be paid by the supplier and Apple ultimately bears that fee when we pay the supplier and we're okay doing that."

This is the latest of many crackdowns against unsavory labor practices. In the past, Apple has limited the number of hours workers could work in a single week. Check out the timeline below for related news.

SOURCE: Bloomberg