Massive increase in Apple suppliers' child labour use

Vendor's supplier audit report finds a stark rise in serious violations last year

Apple's annual auditing of its supplier base revealed "core violations" of its employment policies more than doubled last year.

Among the most grave offences were 91 instances of underage workers being hired across 10 different facilities – up from 11 workers at three factories in 2009.

The Apple Supplier Responsibility 2011 Progress Report, published this week, revealed the results of the manufacturer's audits of 127 facilities – 25 more than were examined last year.

The report claims that Chinese facilities have become more reliant on labour agencies and vocational schools in recent years to meet an increased demand for workers.

"We learned that some of these recruitment sources may provide false IDs that misrepresent young people's ages," added the report.

Apple audits last year found that nine factories had hired a total of 49 underage employees. The vendor reported that the offending facilities had "unsophisticated systems for age verification and ID checks" and all were asked to implement new procedures and training for managers. All nine complied.

But Apple found that one facility had hired 42 underage workers and auditors concluded that the firm "had chosen to overlook the issue and was not committed to addressing the problem". A vocational school used by the factory was found to have falsified information on student identification documents.

Students were reportedly threatened with retaliatory action by the school if they revealed their true age during Apple's audits. The vendor reported the school to authorities and terminated its relationship with the factory.

Other offences uncovered in the report included a total of 18 facilities where employees had paid excessive fees to recruitment agents, 10 more than in 2009.

In 2010, less than one in three facilities audited complied with Apple's regulations on working hours, which state that staff should work a maximum of a 60-hour week, with at least one day off. In 2009, 46 per cent of firms were compliant.

Apple also found last year that 137 workers at Wintek's factory in Suzhou had "suffered adverse health effects following exposure to [toxic chemical] n-hexane". The OEM was ordered to cease use of n-hexane and fix its ventilation system. Apple reports that most of the affected staff have since returned to work and that, since corrective measures were implemented, no new cases have been reported.

In total, 37 "core violations" of Apple policies were found last year, up from 17 in 2009.

Two other facilities had their relationship with Apple terminated: one which falsified payroll records and misled auditors; and one which attempted to bribe auditors into downplaying their findings.

The report also commeds Foxconn for its response to a spate of worker suicides that captured world media attention earlier last year. In June 2010 the vendor's chief operating officer Tim Cook led a delegation from the vendor that visited the facility. The following month Apple commissioned an independent review by suicide prevention experts, the findings of which praised Foxconn for "taking quick action on several fronts simultaneously".

"Apple will continue to work with Foxconn through the implementation of these programmes, and we plan to take key learnings from this engagement to other facilities in our supply base," said the report.