Apple Supplier Foxconn’s Violations: How It Plans To Solve Them

Corporate public relations rule numero uno: When a scandal occurs, admit you were wrong and say you're sorry. Apple is doing just that with the help of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), which released its audit of Apple's factories in China on Thursday. Apple and the FLA pledged to amend the issues at the factories by closely monitoring them and implementing solutions to improve overall conditions, the audit noted.

The FLA found numerous violations at three Foxconn factories in China — Apple's number one supplier — including overworked employees and unsafe working conditions.

But will Apple and the FLA make good on its promises to turn these conditions around? Activist group SumOfUs said Apple has made promises in the past that it didn't keep. A memo on the SomeOfUs website shows two Apple statements regarding factory conditions side-by-side. One is from 2006, the other is from earlier this year. In both statements Apple said it will work to ensure factory employees are not overworked. The most recent audit by the FLA shows employees working excessive hours is still the norm.

Foxconn said it can make its factories compliant with FLA and Chinese regulations by July, 2013.

"Let's be clear — this report admits that Foxconn is breaking the law on a daily basis," said SumOfUs Executive Director Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman. "And it says that it's going to take up to 15 months before Foxconn will stop breaking the law. That's not how this should work. If Apple said to Foxconn tomorrow, 'We will only buy products from you that have been made following the law,' do you really think Foxconn couldn't stop breaking the law sooner than 15 months from now?"

Issue number one: Foxconn employees exceeded 60 hours per week, plus regular overtime and China's legal hours limit of 40 hours per week and 36 hours maximum overtime per month. During peak production times, workers exceeded 60 hours per week on average.

The Proposed Solution: "Foxconn has committed to bring its factories into full compliance with Chinese legal limits and FLA standards on working hours by July, 2013, according to its remediation plan in FLA's report. The supplier will bring working hours in line with the legal limit of 49 hours per week, including overtime. This means a reduction in monthly overtime hours from 80 to 36, and would be a significant improvement given that most of the technology sector is struggling to address excessive overtime."

Issue number two: Problems with overtime compensation. "Fourteen percent of workers may not receive fair compensation for unscheduled overtime. The assessment found that unscheduled overtime was only paid in 30-minute increments. This means, for example, that 29 minutes of overtime work results in no pay and 58 minutes results in only one unit of overtime pay."

The Proposed Solution: "Foxconn committed to pay workers fairly for all overtime as well as work-related meetings outside of regular working hours. In addition, FLA secured agreement from Foxconn and Apple to retroactively pay any worker due unpaid overtime. The companies are currently conducting an audit to determine the payments due to workers." Foxconn is also creating a compensation agreement with employees that protects them from losing income caused by a mandate for less overtime.

Issue number three: "FLA observed other serious issues in areas such as health and safety, worker integration and communication, treatment of interns, and China's social security enrollment, among others."

The Proposed Solution: "Until now, Foxconn only recorded accidents that resulted in a production stoppage. Beginning immediately, Foxconn committed to require supervisors and workers to report all accidents resulting in an injury."

Foxconn also agrees to keep management out of union election decisions, strengthen intern programs and encourage enrollment in social security programs for employees.

"If implemented, these commitments will significantly improve the lives of more than 1.2 million Foxconn employees and set a new standard for Chinese factories," Auret van Heerden, president and CEO of the FLA, said in the audit.

Earlier this week Apple CEO Tim Cook toured Foxconn during his visit to China.

What do you think of the commitment of Apple, the FLA and Foxconn to fix these violations? Tell us in the comments.