Just hours following another published report accusing an Apple supplier of failing to meet Chinese labor laws, the Cupertino firm has revealed that investigators already have their feet on the ground at the factory in question.
“We take any concerns about our suppliers very seriously, and our team of experts is on-site at Jabil Wuxi to look into new claims about conditions there,” Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a comment provided to AllThingsD.
Apple says it has conducted 14 “comprehensive audits” of Jabil in the last five years, three of which took place in the past 36 months. Jabil’s Wuxi, China facility is said to have performed above the company’s average 92% compliance rate for a 60-hour work week limit.
“An audit conducted earlier this year did find that some employees had worked more than six consecutive days without a day of rest, and Jabil has been working with our team to better manage overtime,” the company said.
Apple comments and action were in response to a report issued earlier today by watchdog group China Labor Watch. The group claimed that workers in the factory are required to work 100 hours mandatory overtime per month, 3X the legal limit.
The group also claimed that workers do more than 11 hours of work standing on their feet per day, and also made accusations of inadequate training, and hiring discrimination.
The factory being investigated is reportedly producing units of Apple’s new “iPhone 5C” “budget” handset, which is expected to be introduced alongside Apple’s new flagship iPhone 5S on September 10th.
