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