FOXNews.com: Audit finds Apple supplier Foxconn violates Chinese labor rules

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Audit finds Apple supplier Foxconn violates Chinese labor rules Mar 29th 2012, 20:51 The first outside audit of Apple Inc.'s supply chain has found excessive working hours and health and safety issues at its largest manufacturer. The investigation of manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which is known as Foxconn, was conducted by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), a group Apple joined in January. It was based, in part, on surveys of 35,500 workers building products like iPods and iPhones at three Foxconn facilities in Shenzhen and Chengdu. The group -- in one of the most detailed labor investigations of a Chinese manufacturer to date -- found at least 50 legal or code violations or policy gaps, according to its report. All three factories surveyed exceeded the FLA code of a standard 60-hour work week in the last 12 months, which is also Apple's own standard. The audits found several months in the past year when the majority of workers exceeded China's legal maximum of 36 overtime hours a month. FLA said Foxconn agreed to bring its factories within China's legal limits of 40 hours per week and 36 hours maximum overtime per month by July 2013. That would require more than halving the average hours of overtime, with the report pegged at 80 hours a month, and FLA said Foxconn would need to recruit tens of thousands of extra workers to comply. Apple issued a statement saying it fully support FLA's recommendations. "We think empowering workers and helping them understand their rights is essential," it said, adding the company had been working on these issues for years. A representative for Foxconn couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Click here for more on this story from The Wall Street Journal.

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