The U.S. Department of Justice said Apple Inc. (AAPL.O) has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve allegations that the corporation improperly preferred foreign workers for certain occupations over U.S. citizens and holders of green cards.
According to a statement by the Justice Department, Apple violated a federal statute that forbids discrimination based on citizenship by not hiring U.S. citizens or permanent residents for positions that qualified for a federal program that allows firms to sponsor foreign workers for green cards.
According to the Justice Department, this settlement represents the biggest one it has ever reached over claims of citizenship-based discrimination. In addition to paying $18.25 million to an unidentified number of impacted workers, Apple must also pay $6.75 million in civil penalties.
In a statement, Apple admitted that it had “unintentionally not been following the DOJ standard.”
“As we continue to hire American workers and expand in the U.S., we have put in place a comprehensive remediation plan to meet the requirements of multiple government agencies,” the business stated.
As it often does for other positions, the Justice Department claims that Apple failed to post job postings that qualified for the permanent labor certification, or PERM, program on its website. Additionally, the department stated that although the corporation typically accepts electronic applications, it requires candidates for specific positions to send paper applications.
“These less effective recruitment procedures nearly always resulted in few or no applications to PERM positions from applicants whose permission to work does not expire,” claimed the agency.
The recruitment processes may have benefited Apple, but the Justice Department did not say they impacted specific Apple employment.
Recruiting foreign labor is frequently less expensive than recruiting American workers, and immigrants who depend on their employers to sponsor their green cards are thought to be less inclined to change jobs.
In exchange for the payment, Apple also committed to matching its regular hiring procedures for PERM positions. According to the settlement, the business must hire additional people and provide them with anti-discrimination legal training.
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