Apple and the US reach a $25 million settlement over Apple's employment of foreign workers

 Apple and the US reach a $25 million settlement over Apple's employment of foreign workers

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.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday that Apple Inc. has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve allegations that the corporation had improperly given preference to foreign workers for certain positions over 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 is 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.

With a statement, Apple admitted that it had "unintentionally never been following the DOJ standard."

"We are implementing a robust remediation plan to comply with the rules and regulations of different federal departments as we continue to hire American workers as well as grow in the U.S.," the business said.

As it often does for other jobs, 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 said that while the corporation typically accepts electronic applications, it required candidates for certain positions to send paper applications.

"These less effective recruitment processes nearly always resulted in only a handful of applications to PERM employment from applicants who's permission to work does not expire," claimed the agency.

The recruiting processes may have benefitted Apple, but the Justice Department did not say specific Apple employment were impacted by them.

recruiting foreign labor is often less expensive than recruiting American workers, and immigrants who depend on their employers to sponsor their green card 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 will have to hire additional people and provide them with anti-discrimination legal training.