Apple suspends new business with Pegatron due to violation of labor regulations
Pegatron Technology is an important foundry company of Apple, and every fall when Apple releases a new iPhone is the busiest time for these foundry companies.
In order to meet the demand for production lines, these foundry companies sometimes cooperate with some full-time colleges to recruit student workers. Usually, this kind of cooperation is called school-enterprise cooperation and internship.
However, in most cases, such internships have little to do with students’ majors. At the same time, student workers in these foundry companies also face night shifts and a large amount of overtime.
Apple is very strict in supplier management. For example, underage employees are not allowed to work overtime and night work, and Pegatron violated this rule.
“SF Apple Store” by signal11 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Bloomberg reports that according to the news released by Apple, the relevant persons in charge of Pegatron, they tried their best to circumvent Apple’s supervision mechanism and avoid being discovered by Apple of violations.
For example, in the project, Pegatron misclassified student workers and forged documents to cover up violations, including allowing student workers to perform night work and overtime work.
At the same time, Apple also found that the work content of many interns is not related to their majors. Apple has taken quick action to ensure that these students return to school or go home.
For these student workers, Apple also requires suppliers to provide direct subsidies in the form of financial compensation and requires suppliers to face up to such problems and work strictly according to regulations.
Apple has taken punitive measures for this violation, including the suspension of Apple’s new business with Pegatron and the expulsion of the administrator responsible for the incident.
Pegatron Technology issued a statement stating that during recent inspections with customers, it was discovered that some students in Pegatron Shanghai were working night shifts and overtime.
The company did not specify the specific number of these student workers, but Pegatron stated that it had immediately transferred these employees off the production line for proper arrangements after discovering the problem.
In response to Apple’s suspension of its new business, Pegatron said that existing orders will not be affected, and will continue to strengthen audit procedures to ensure that all its factories are legally compliant.
