Apple Sees No Forced Labor at Its IPod Factory in China

Apple Computer Inc.’s investigation into claims of poor conditions at a Chinese iPod factory found no forced labor but discovered that workers were exceeding the company’s limits on hours and days to be worked per week, the company said Friday.

Apple said it was taking immediate steps to resolve that and other issues.

The probe by the Cupertino, Calif.-based company was in response to a recent report by a British newspaper, the Mail on Sunday, alleging that workers at the factory were paid as little as $50 a month and forced to work 15-hour shifts making the devices.

“The team reviewed personnel files and hiring practices and found no evidence whatsoever of the use of child labor or any form of forced labor,” Apple said in a report on its website that summarized the findings of its audit of the facility.

The probe did find that in many cases workers were exceeding the company’s overtime limits, which specify a maximum of 60 hours or six days a week.

“We found no instances of forced overtime,” the report said. But it said weekly limits were exceeded 35% of the time in a seven-month period and that employees worked more than six days in a row 25% of the time.

The company running the factory, which was not named in the report, was ordered to enforce Apple’s overtime limits, it said.

Apple’s iconic iPod players are made abroad, mainly in China. More than 50 million iPods have been sold since its debut in 2001.

“Apple has a zero-tolerance policy for any instance, isolated or not, of any treatment of workers that could be interpreted as harsh,” the report said. It said the factory had launched an “aggressive” manager and employee training program to prevent such behavior.