Your iPhone Could Have Been Constructed by a Child

Apple has discovered that some of its factories employed underage staff to build the iPhone, iPod touch and even Mac computers. Can you imagine that your mobile device might have been constructed by children? This is so sad our world makes teens work, and sometimes even huge well-known companies exploit child’s labor paying kids the smallest salaries existing.

Nearly 11 underage workers were employed by Apple-contracted companies last year. This report can be discovered on the official Apple’s site in “Supplier Responsibility” section. The company states that its 3 suppliers have used child’s labor however the countries where it has happened are not pointed out.

It is known that Apple’s inspectors had been to several locations including China, the USA, South Korea, and Taiwan. Auditors discovered information about 11 workers who had been employed even though they hadn’t achieved the legal age. At the moment of Apple’s review those kids had no longer worked or had turned the required age.

These are not the only troubles Apple had to face. About 60 of company’s facilities made their personnel work more than 60 hrs weekly, sometimes without a day off. More than 20 facilities paid their staff much less than the recommended salary. Some companies even cheated their workers out of expected rewards such as maternity leave or illness time.

Now all the suppliers must develop innovative methods to correct the violations. They must repay their employees and apply all the programs implemented by Apple to create their staff a comfortable working atmosphere.

A few suppliers have lost Apple’s partnership. The company has stopped doing business with some of them. Some of the facilities had to refund totally 2.2 million dollars to their employees. From now on Apple would hold courses for its staff to explain their rights and improve computer and technical skills.