An internal audit at Apple has discovered multiple cases of child labor being used in its manufacturing process.
Investigators found 90 facilities that deducted wages to punish workers, prompting Apple to order the reimbursement of employees.
Mandatory pregnancy testing was found at 34 places of work, while 25 tested for medical conditions such as hepatitis B.
Meanwhile at four facilities, payroll records were falsified to hide information from auditors, and at one, a supplier was found intentionally dumping waste oil “into the restroom receptacle”.
The audit unc0vered:
- 106 cases of underage labour being used at Apple suppliers last year,
- one Chinese company that employed 74 children under the age of 16,
- that in nearly 400 suppliers, children were employed at 11 factories involved in making its products.
The report also uncovered a series of other offences including:
- mandatory pregnancy tests,
- workers’ wages being confiscated to pay off debts imposed by recruitment agencies,
- juveniles being used to lift heavy goods and
- workers having their wages docked as punishment.
One Chinese supplier, a circuit board component maker called Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics, was axed by Apple after 74 children under the age of 16 were recruited to work on its production lines.
Last year Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook said the use of underage labour was “abhorrent.”
Jeff Williams, senior vice president of operations at Apple, vowed to eradicate underage labor, but said it could take some time.
Via: Guardian