Apple recently released its 2016 Supplier Responsibility report. This marks the tech giant’s 11th year publishing the report.
This year’s report reveals that Apple suppliers delivered its highest ever level of reasonable working hours compliance at a rate of 98 percent. In addition, Apple is the first company to map its cobalt supply chain down to the mine, but goes on to list its Cobalt smelters.
The company is also partnering with NGOs in the Congo to train workers in health and safety, and develop programs to keep kids in school. The company’s clean energy team helped its suppliers reduce their carbon emissions by 150,000 metric tons last year, which is equivalent to taking 31,000 cars off the road for a year.
Despite the consistent release of these reports, Apple has come under fire multiple times over the years for poor working conditions in several of its manufacturing plants. For example, reports surfaced in 2014 claimed that employees were forced to work 12-hour shifts in certain Chinese factories, with weekly hours often exceeding 60 hours.
In 2016, Apple was once again chastised by the media for unfair overtime and illegal working conditions in Chinese factories. Workers at Pegatron’s Shanghai factory have reportedly been excessively worked over the past year.
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