Dive Brief:

• After a storm of criticism from labor unions and advocates for firing two ex-convicts from a construction crew working on its huge new Cupertino, CA, campus, Apple has rescinded its policy of barring felons from its job sites, The San Jose Mercury News reported Thursday.

• An article the newspaper called “an exclusive” reported that the maker of the iPhone has backed away from a requirement that anyone convicted of a felony within the past seven years could not work on its new campus.

• "We recognize that this may have excluded some people who deserve a second chance,” Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock told the newspaper. “We have now removed that restriction and instructed our contractors on the project to evaluate all applicants equally, on a case by case basis, as we would for any role at Apple."

Dive Insight:

Advocates and construction unions have argued that felons whose crimes are not related to the jobs for which they are applying should not be kept off of those worksites. Construction jobs, they have said, are a traditional pathway for felons to re-enter the work force.