Underage workers have reappeared in some of Foxconn's factories, according to a new internal investigation conducted by Foxconn's parent company Hon Hai. The company said on Tuesday that it found a number of interns younger than the legal floor of 16, but did not reveal the exact number.
"We recognize that full responsibility for these violations rests with our company and we have apologized to each of the students for our role in this action," Foxconn said in a statement, as seen by Reuters. "Any Foxconn employee found, through our investigation, to be responsible for these violations will have their employment immediately terminated."
Foxconn is largely known for manufacturing Apple's gadgets—the word "Foxconn" is nearly synonymous with iPhone and iPad manufacture in some circles—but also builds products for a number of other technology companies such as Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, HP, Intel, Acer, and others. Still, Apple has largely been the company left combating Foxconn's negative image. Apple publishes an annual report on its suppliers—which includes data on underage labor—and the Fair Labor Association recently published its own report saying that Apple and Foxconn were indeed improving factory conditions ahead of schedule.
Apple's most recent report says incidents of underage labor being used have decreased significantly between 2010 and 2011. When Apple finds underage workers, it requires the offending suppliers to send them back to the workers' choice of school and finance their education through Apple's Child Labor Remediation program. And when the underage workers go back to school, the suppliers must also pay them the same income that they were earning while they were working at the facility.
According to China Labor Watch, schools in China are largely responsible for placing under-16 workers in factories, but, as noted by Reuters, the group did fault Foxconn for not confirming the ages of its interns before putting them to work.
reader comments
52