Microsoft supplier ordered toobey law on teenage workers
By William Foreman |
April 20, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO factories that make Microsoft products in southern China violated overtime regulations and failed to properly register the use of workers aged 16 to 18, officials said yesterday.
The problems at the plants in the city of Dongguan in Guangdong Province were initially raised last week by The National Labor Committee, a New York-based nonprofit organization that monitors the treatment of foreign workers by United States companies. The group alleged that teenagers worked long shifts and were not allowed to use bathrooms during working hours at the plants, owned by Taiwan-based KYE Systems Corp.
The factories make Webcams, computer mice and Xbox controllers for Microsoft, the world's biggest software company.
Investigators with Dongguan's human resources bureau said factories are allowed to hire workers between the ages of 16 and 18 as long as they are registered with the authorities. The KYE factories had 385 such workers - most supplied by vocational schools - and 326 weren't properly registered, the report said.
Employees were also forced to work an excessive amount of overtime in March, clocking about 280 hours, the report said. Copies of the labor contract weren't given to employees, the document said.
But officials said that, based on interviews with workers, there were no restrictions against using the restroom during shifts.
The report said the company's policy was to give workers 10-minute breaks every two hours.
KYE Systems spokesman Lai Jin-hui said: "Assembly line workers are allowed to go to the bathroom only if they report the need."
Lai said that the factories did nothing wrong regarding overtime and had followed regulations that limit the working week to 60 hours. But Lai acknowledged that the factories failed to properly register workers and would now fix the problem.
The human resources bureau report said the factories have been ordered to comply with the law and would be monitored closely.
Last week, Microsoft said it carried out quarterly onsite assessments and received weekly reports from KYE about certain labor and safety criteria. The US software maker said a team of independent auditors would visit the factories and monitor the situation pending results of its inspection.
The problems at the plants in the city of Dongguan in Guangdong Province were initially raised last week by The National Labor Committee, a New York-based nonprofit organization that monitors the treatment of foreign workers by United States companies. The group alleged that teenagers worked long shifts and were not allowed to use bathrooms during working hours at the plants, owned by Taiwan-based KYE Systems Corp.
The factories make Webcams, computer mice and Xbox controllers for Microsoft, the world's biggest software company.
Investigators with Dongguan's human resources bureau said factories are allowed to hire workers between the ages of 16 and 18 as long as they are registered with the authorities. The KYE factories had 385 such workers - most supplied by vocational schools - and 326 weren't properly registered, the report said.
Employees were also forced to work an excessive amount of overtime in March, clocking about 280 hours, the report said. Copies of the labor contract weren't given to employees, the document said.
But officials said that, based on interviews with workers, there were no restrictions against using the restroom during shifts.
The report said the company's policy was to give workers 10-minute breaks every two hours.
KYE Systems spokesman Lai Jin-hui said: "Assembly line workers are allowed to go to the bathroom only if they report the need."
Lai said that the factories did nothing wrong regarding overtime and had followed regulations that limit the working week to 60 hours. But Lai acknowledged that the factories failed to properly register workers and would now fix the problem.
The human resources bureau report said the factories have been ordered to comply with the law and would be monitored closely.
Last week, Microsoft said it carried out quarterly onsite assessments and received weekly reports from KYE about certain labor and safety criteria. The US software maker said a team of independent auditors would visit the factories and monitor the situation pending results of its inspection.
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