Apple Continues to Address Excessive Work Hours at Supplier Factories

Apple has taken it upon itself to prohibit practices that threaten the rights of workers in China, even when local laws and customs permit such practices. Via its Labor and Human Rights report, Apple has updated the data on the 800,000 production workers in their supply chain.

Earlier this year, Apple released the Labor and Human Rights report to note that the company had begun taking action towards “ending excessive recruitment fees, preventing the hiring of underage workers, and prohibiting discriminatory policies at our suppliers.”

The Mac maker carefully noted that “There’s still work to be done, but we’re encouraged by the progress we’ve made thus far.”

Apple now reveals that its auditors are now tracking weekly supplier data for over 800,000 workers.

“In August, 97 percent of worker weeks were reported as compliant with the 60-hour maximum work week specified in our code, sustaining the 97 percent that was reported in July,” the company says.

The number of workers has increased from over 500,000 in January to over 800,000 in August - represented in the chart displayed to the left.

The Cupertino giant further notes that when it discovers suppliers which use underage workers, or even when it finds out about cases “where workers had either left or reached legal working age by the time of the audit,” the company demands “immediate corrective action.”

The treatment of workers who are working legally but are younger than 18 is also tracked.

“We don’t allow these workers to perform some types of work, even in cases where local laws or regulations allow it,” Apple stresses.

“Our standards also require factories to adhere to student labor laws and to ensure that schools and universities follow the laws as well, which is particularly important as factories increasingly turn to these institutions for student interns.”