Foxconn stops illegal overtime at its iPhone production plant
Foxconn is no longer offering overtime to interns
Chinese electronics manufacturing company Foxconn, which makes makes the Apple iPhone, has been slammed for allowing young interns to do illegal overtime.
Today, the company confirmed that it's finally stopped young interns from doing overtime work at its factory in the Henan province of China.
In China, there are laws that say young people can't work for over 40 hours weekly. However, Foxconn was found to be in direct breach of this rule.
The Financial Times recently published a report claiming that around six students have spent 11 hours a day working at the production plant, where the iPhone X is being made.
About 3,000 students have been working for Foxconn, and it's likely that intern and recruitment programmes at the firm will change in the future.
Tech giant Apple has since responded to the news. It confirmed that secondary school students had been working in the China-based manufacturing plant.
However, it said they have been doing so on a voluntary basis, but agrees that they "should not have been allowed to work overtime". The companies added that the interns received sufficient compensation and benefits.
"Apple is dedicated to ensuring everyone in our supply chain is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve," the firm said in a statement seen by the BBC.
"We know our work is never done and we'll continue to do all we can to make a positive impact and protect workers in our supply chain."
Speaking to the BBC, the company said it's taken "immediate action to ensure that no interns are carrying out any overtime work".
While the company does run an internship scheme, it said "interns represent a very small percentage" of the workforce. It's also in the process of changing its employment policies to ensure this doesn't happen again.
It reportedly expanded the scheme to keep up with the production demand of the recently launched iPhone X.
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