Bonded servitude is a means of employment where the employee is required to pay the employer for the privilege of working for the company. This is in the form of a bond. The system works where a new worker is charged a fee, around a month’s salary or sometimes more, for being introduced to a factory by third-party recruiters. Debt bondage has been described by the United Nations as a form of “modern day slavery” and is prohibited by international law.
The system means that many workers begin in debt, and often have to provide some means of securing their tenure by promising not to abscond owing money. This can involve surrendering a passport. This was found to be taking place at Apple’s factory in Pegatron, according to Gizmodo.
Apple has indicated that it became aware of the issue following an internal audit of factory conditions. One realizing what was happening, the iPhone maker has changed the policy and is requiring such fee to be paid by its supplier and not the employee.
Jeff Williams, Apple’s senior vice-president of operations, told the BBC: “That fee needs to be paid by the supplier, and Apple ultimately bears that fee when we pay the supplier, and we’re OK doing that.”
The campaign group China Labor Watch said it unearthed the medieval labor practice as part of its critique of Apple’s labor practices, which includes paying relatively low wages. The organization based its evidence on based its findings on 96 pay stubs submitted by an unknown number of employees.
