Apple partner Foxconn improving factory conditions, says labor group

IDG News Service - Apple supplier Foxconn has steadily improved the working conditions at three of its Chinese factories following a February audit,  by reducing employee overtime work and updating maintenance policies and safety procedures, a labor group said on Tuesday.

The Fair Labor Association (FLA) released its new report, months after completing its initial audit of three Foxconn factories that found employees worked more than 60 hours a week, were not always fairly compensated for overtime, along with inconsistencies in healthy and safety procedures. Together, the three factories employ close to 180,000 workers.

The FLA, which revisited the factories from June 25 to July 6, noted that since the February audit, Foxconn has reduced employee working hours to 60 hours a week including overtime. This meets the labor group's code, but still exceeds the Chinese legal limit of 49 hours a week including overtime. Foxconn has pledged to bring its work hours to the Chinese legal limit by July 2013.

The improvements are part of a long list of "action items" developed by Foxconn and Apple to resolve the problems FLA found at the three factories. So far, Foxconn's three factories have completed all 195 items meant to be addressed by May of this year.

Among the many changes, Foxconn has stopped student interns from working overtime at the factories. The company has also revised and communicated its grievance policy to workers, allowing for problems to be voiced anonymously to management. At the same time, the FLA has worked with Foxconn to make employees better aware of their union.

The audit also helped bring numerous changes to health and safety policies, such as improving the design of workers' equipment to prevent injuries, and introducing scheduled "ergonomic breaks" lasting 10 to 15 minutes meant to relieve stress on workers' bodies.

Despite the progress made, the FLA said challenges still lie ahead for Foxconn in improving its factories, one of which is reducing employee working hours to 49 a week. Foxconn also still has 165 action items the three factories must address by July 2013. But so far, 89 have already been completed, according to the FLA.

In response to the FLA's report, Foxconn noted in a statement the company was ahead of schedule in meeting the list of changes to improve its factories' working conditions. The company also pointed to how the FLA has cited its role in supporting a new regulation, effective January of next year, to extend unemployment insurance to migrant workers in Shenzhen, China, a major Foxconn manufacturing base.

"Our hope is that our efforts will not only benefit Foxconn, but that they will also serve as a model for other companies and help improve working conditions for the manufacturing industry throughout China," said Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn's CEO, in a statement.