Supplier Responsibility

People come first. In everything we do.

The highest standards apply at every level.

At Apple, people are at the heart of everything we do and everything we make. That means considering not only those who will use a product, but also those who help build it. So we hold ourselves and our suppliers to the highest standards to protect the people in our supply chain, and the planet we all call home. Our Supplier Code of Conduct is designed to uphold that commitment. From the sourcing of materials to the recycling of our products, we work with suppliers to ensure that our requirements are being met.

  • Design & Engineering

  • Mine

  • Smelters & Refiners

  • Components

  • Final Assembly

  • Logistics

  • Retail Stores

  • Support

  • Recycling

We enforce our policies by assessing and closely partnering with suppliers at every point in our supply chain. In 2019 we performed 1142 supplier assessments in 49 countries.

Our commitment is more than a promise. It’s action.

Final product inspection, Vietnam

Living up to our highest ideals takes the same hard work and innovative spirit we devote to our products. Labor, human rights, and environmental protections are the foundation of our Supplier Code of Conduct. And we go further to empower the people in our supply chain and to leave the world better than we found it — all while working with partners to get us there faster.

A safe and respectful workplace for everyone.

Workplace rights are human rights. We require suppliers to provide fair working hours, a safe work site, and an environment free from discrimination. These protections apply across the supply chain, regardless of a person’s job or location.

Supplier employees get trained on their rights before getting started.

Supplier employees get trained on their rights before getting started.

Protection begins with rights awareness. We require all suppliers to make their employees aware of their workplace rights during orientation. Employees are strongly encouraged to speak up through anonymous channels if they feel those rights are threatened. And we have zero tolerance for retaliation if an employee chooses to raise concerns.

Though suppliers are required to provide anonymous grievance channels for their workforce, Apple is always asking supplier employees for direct feedback. In 2019 we partnered with workplace rights experts to measure supplier employees’ general satisfaction at work, the extent to which they felt their workplace rights were respected, management’s responsiveness to grievances, and their opinions of workplace conditions and amenities such as food service. The feedback gathered through these voluntary and anonymous surveys directly informed improvements to supplier facilities, such as better food service and more comprehensive new employee orientation.

19.4M+ supplier employees trained on their rights since 2008
42,885 supplier employees participated in workplace satisfaction surveys

Workplace safety is part of our design process.

Workplace safety is part of our design process.

Everyone has the right to a safe and healthy workplace. Suppliers must provide appropriate protective equipment and training to manage risks on the job. Our safety reviews start before machines are ever turned on, and we work alongside the engineers developing manufacturing techniques to make sure new processes are safe.

The responsible use of chemicals is equally important. Some chemicals we strictly prohibit. When chemicals are used, we require specific safety measures to protect the health of supplier employees. And we’re always working to help suppliers adopt even safer, greener alternatives.

A+ For the second year in a row, Apple was awarded an A+ rating for eliminating toxic chemicals by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families as part of its Mind the Store ranking.

We support those who support their communities.

We support those who support their communities.

Our strict standards apply at all levels. Because our supply chain is global, so is our responsibility. We believe that empowering local, independent voices is critical to protecting people and the planet. So we collaborate with experts who best understand the challenges and opportunities in their communities, while contributing our learnings and experiences in the management of complex supply chains.

Since 2017 we’ve partnered with the Fund for Global Human Rights to support grassroots activists, such as human rights defenders and environmental advocates. Their work touches over 25 countries, and with Apple’s support the Fund has trained local groups in organizational management, capacity building, and advocacy. And in 2019 we expanded our partnership with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, an international organization focused on bringing awareness to human rights issues.

Stopping debt-bonded labor before it can happen.

Stopping debt-bonded labor before it can happen.

No one should pay to work. Of the millions of people in our supply chain, a small percentage are those who leave their home countries to work abroad. This can make them vulnerable to debt-bonded labor, which occurs when a person works in exchange for repayment of a debt, such as a recruitment fee. We don’t allow this, and have zero tolerance for debt-bonded labor in any form.

If we discover debt-bonded labor, the supplier must take immediate action or risk removal from our supply chain. The supplier must also repay any recruitment fees in full directly to the employee.

In 2019 we worked with suppliers, their labor agents, and supply chain employees to create a responsible recruitment toolkit. It’s designed to ensure that everyone involved follows recruitment practices that meet our strict standards. We also strengthened the rights training that supplier employees receive when they leave their home countries, so they’re better prepared for their new jobs.

1 case of debt-bonded labor identified in 2019
$1.3M in recruitment fees repaid to 462 supplier employees in 2019
$32.3M in recruitment fees repaid to 36,599 employees by suppliers since 2008

Educational programs built with the same passion as our products.

At Apple, we’ve always believed that education is a great equalizing force. We’ve provided education and training to more than four million supplier employees since 2008. These programs are designed to help people explore new opportunities and acquire in-demand skills — even people who are never directly involved in building an Apple product.

Wellness training
for more supplier employees.

Wellness training for more supplier employees.

Partnering with local experts, we create customized education programs to help supplier employees live healthier lives inside and outside the workplace. Participants gain a deeper awareness of their personal well-being and skills to better manage their health — knowledge they can share with their communities.

Our health education programs in China, India, and Vietnam provide training in topics such as nutrition, self-examination for early breast cancer detection, and maternal health. We’ve also made basic wellness training part of our supplier new employee orientation, with over 840,000 people participating in 2019 alone.

Tomorrow’s workforce needs the skills we help people build today.