Under an agreement with the Justice Department in the US, Apple must now pay up to $25 million USD to settle the charges of hiring and recruitment discrimination.
The Justice Department alleged Apple violated anti-discrimination requirements, while hiring positions under the permanent labour certification program.
PERM is a government program enabling employers to sponsor workers for lawful permanent resident status. However, they must meet certain requirements.
The Justice Department claimed Apple didn’t advertise positions to be filled through this program on its external site, requiring applicants to submit paper applications.
Apple said the PERM process accounts for around 5% of its workforce in the US, and didn’t intentionally violate any laws.
A spokesperson said, “When we realized we had unintentionally not been following the DOJ standard, we agreed to a settlement addressing their concerns. We have implemented a robust remediation plan to comply with the requirements of various government agencies as we continue to hire American workers and grow in the U.S.”
Apple now has to pay $6.75 million in civil penalties. It will also establish an $18.25 million back pay fund for victims.
The company will also be required to conduct a more expansive recruitment process for said PERM positions.
Some of these changes in the agreement had already been implemented after the investigation by the Justice Department began.
