iPhone: Pegatron violated Apple’s work guidelines

Apple will not place any new orders for the Taiwanese supplier Pegatron for the time being. The reason for this is labour law violations in Chinese factories. An Apple spokesperson confirmed a corresponding report by the Finance Agency Bloomberg.

A few weeks ago, Apple discovered that Pegatron had violated its Supplier Code of Conduct in managing a program for student labor. “Pegatron misclassified the student assistants in its program and falsified documents to cover up violations of our code”, the Apple statement said.

This allowed students to work night shifts or overtime, contrary to the rules. In addition, in some cases Pegatron had the students do work that had nothing to do with their main subject.

Apple controls working conditions at the manufacturing manufacturers

Pegatron is one of the few manufacturers that Apple relies on worldwide to produce top products such as the iPhone. Like its larger rival Foxconn, the Taiwanese company is an integral part of Apple’s global supply chain, which has been repeatedly criticised by labour rights activists over the years.

Apple has reacted to the accusations with extensive investigations and has been submitting reports on possible violations in supplier companies for years. In the current case, Apple referred to this “strict review and approval process for each student work program”.

No evidence of forced labor

With this, Apple wanted to ensure that an intern’s work was related to his or her major subject and that overtime or night shifts were prohibited. Pegatron had violated these rules. However, no evidence of forced labour or work for minors was found during the investigations.

According to Apple, the managers responsible for the violations at Pegatron have made extraordinary efforts to evade our oversight mechanisms”. Pegatron has now dismissed the manager responsible for the student work program.

“Apple has put Pegatron on probation, and Pegatron will not receive any new orders from Apple until the company has completed all necessary corrective actions.” They have responded quickly to ensure that students can return home and to their schools safely. Those affected had received financial compensation.”