Apples Mistreatment Of Employees

Running head: APPLE’S MISTREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES 1

Apple’s Mistreatment of Employees

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APPLE’S MISTREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES 2

Apple’s Mistreatment of Employees

It is the duty of every business entity to ensure that it operates in way that is fair, just,

integral, and honorable. In other words, it should be construed as ethical. These are the standard

principles that an organization is expected to follow in its operations (Fredrick, 2014). An ethical

organization is one that responds to both internal and external stimuli in a balanced manner.

Almost every enterprise across the world has, at some moment, been accused of unethical

behavior. Such actions have a devastating effect on the image and reputation of a company

(Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2012). The effect is even worse when a company has a global recognition.

Unethical actions are mainly a result of issues relating to employee mistreatment, poor working

conditions, low wages, children labor, and others. Apple Inc. is a multinational electronics

company that has been accused of unethical activities at Foxconn, one of its supplier plants in

China. There are various steps that the company can take, which would ensure its plants overseas

adhere to standards business ethics.

For an organization to be accused of malpractices, the issues must be clearly identified.

At Foxconn plant in China, there was an issue of long working hours and unpaid overtime work

(Moore, 2010). Research indicates that the workers at this factory were forced to work

continuously for more than ten hours and assemble more than 4000 computers during this time.

Employees who failed to meet the requirements were denied the food and were forced to work

for longer hours without any extra payment. Moreover, they were supposed to change tasks

constantly. It is evident that the company was using the employees for the sole purpose of

maximizing the profits. Due to these inhumane conditions, ten employees at the factory

committed suicide in 2010 (Lee, 2011). This made Apple realize its unethical business practices.

APPLE’S MISTREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES 3

The company was under immense criticism from human rights activists and labor unions across

the world.

Moreover, investigators found out that the plant was employing underage workers who

were forced to work for long hours under the pretext of apprentice. Most of the employees who

committed suicide at the plant were aged 18-24 years. SACOM released a report showing that

the young employees were forced by their schools to work at the plant (Karlgaard, 2012). The

labor laws in China are not as strict as the ones in the United States or the United Kingdom.

Therefore, Apple was perceived as exploiting this loophole for its financial gain.

The safety and the health of the employees at the assembly plant were also completely

ignored. The work environment at the Foxconn plant was deplorable, and the employees were

constantly under stress. SACOM has conducted investigations and found out that employees

were exposed to harmful aluminum dust. Furthermore, Foxconn never educated its employees on

the dangers of such working environment. The workers were not provided with any protective

clothing such as masks (Karlgaard, 2012). They were constantly at the risk of being poisoned by

the chemicals they were working with. Finally, there was a deadly explosion at the plant in May

2011. Even though the company denied these allegations, it is clear that its reputation as an

ethical business was damaged.

Another issue that made Apple to be accused of business malpractices was the way it

treated workers’ unions and employees’ protests. Fair labor laws dictate that employees should

be allowed to protest and lodge complaints with the employer. However, at Apple’s

manufacturing plant, employees who attempted to protest were silenced by the use of police

force. A case in point is the January of 2011 at Foxconn when workers protested against low

wages. Over 200 police officers were deployed to one of the dormitories, and about 20 workers

APPLE’S MISTREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES 4

were arrested (Radhakrishnan & Dutta, 2012). This is a form of wrongdoing, and it should be

criticized. Such harassment of employees should not be expected to happen at any organization,

especially an international corporation such as Apple Inc.

Lastly, Apple has been accused of silencing the victims who have been injured at the

Foxconn factory. The victims and their families were offered monetary compensation for a

promise of remaining silent over the issue (Karlgaard, 2012). The victims could not report the

harsh conditions at their place of work once they were paid. During its investigations, SACOM

managed to meet some of the families of the victims who confirmed that they were indeed paid.

This is an action that can be described as unjust and one that lacks integrity.

There is a number of steps that the company can take to ensure that the issues are

addressed. Apple must establish the standards for all its suppliers. It is clear that the malpractices

at Foxconn are affecting the reputation of Apple as a whole. Therefore, it is the responsibility of

Apple to establish conditions that would ensure the suppliers abide to the international labor laws

(Weiss, 2014). This would also ensure that the employment of underage workers is stopped and

laborers work for the standard eight working hours per day. Additionally, the plant should offer

attractive wages to the employees.

It is also recommended that Apple opens its factory doors for scrutiny. Research indicates

that the company is highly secretive concerning the operations inside its manufacturing plants.

This allows the suppliers to mistreat employees and expose them to inhumane working

conditions (Karlgaard, 2012). Allowing the media and other human rights bodies to scrutinize

Apple’s factories would ensure that the conditions improve. Moreover, it is essential to address

such issues openly and admit the wrongdoing. This would create an opportunity for

improvement.

APPLE’S MISTREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES 5

Apple Inc. must realize that labor unions, protests and demonstrations are common at the

workplace. Apple must allow all the employees in all its plants to form labor unions and to

protest against any decision they feel is against their rights. The damage that can be caused by

the unethical practices is immense and it is prudent for Apple to mitigate such through respecting

workers’ rights.

Overall, it is clear that ethics is an integral aspect in the operations of any organization.

Even though it might be hard for a business entity to entirely avoid unethical activities, it must

strive to abide by the international ethical standards in order to protect its reputation (Schwartz &

Harris, 2013). It is important to note that a company with a bad reputation would not be

successful in a competitive market. Apple has been faced with such a predicament since the 2011

case of Foxconn where it was accused of wrongful deeds against the employees. The

employment of underage workers, long working hours, silencing victims, and unsafe work

environments were just some of the issues that made Apple to be accused of unethical practices

(Weiss, 2014). There are, however, various measures that the firm can take to avoid such

malpractices. It is vital to observe the international labor laws. Apple should also open its factory

doors to the media that would highlight any wrongful deeds.

APPLE’S MISTREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES 6

References

Ferrell, O. C., & Fraedrich, J. (2012). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Fredrick, R. (2014). A companion to business ethics. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

Schwartz, M., & Harris, H. (2013). Moral saints and moral exemplars. United Kingdom:

Emerald.

Karlgaard, R. (2012). In Defense of Apple's China Plants. The Wall Street Journal. A13.

Lee, A. (2011). Apple manufacturer Foxconn makes employees sign “No suicide” pact. The

Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/06/apple-

foxconn-suicide-pact_n_858504.html

Moore, M. (2010). Inside Foxconn’s suicide factory. The Telegraph. Retrieved from

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7773011/A-look-inside-the-Foxconn-

suicide-factory.html

Radhakrishnan, V., & Dutta, M. (2012). Foxconn workers speak: We are treated worse than

machines. Asian Labour Update, 78, 32-36.

Weiss, J. W. (2014). Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. San

Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

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