Daily Times

Apple said on Monday it has put its Taiwanese supplier Pegatron on probation after finding that the company violated Apple’s supplier code of conduct by asking student employees to work night shifts or overtime. Pegatron had misclassified student workers and falsified paperwork to disguise the violations, and in some cases also breached the code by allowing students to perform work unrelated to their majors, the U.S. technology giant said. Pegatron is one of a handful of Taiwanese manufacturers on the island, alongside Foxconn, who dominate Apple’s iPhone assembly chain. “Several weeks ago, we discovered Pegatron – one of Apple’s suppliers in China – violated Apple’s Supplier Code of Conduct in its administration of a student work study programme,” it said in a statement. “Apple has placed Pegatron on probation and Pegatron will not receive any new business from Apple until they complete all of the corrective actions required.” Apple did not declare the terms of the probation. Apple’s investigations had found no evidence of forced or underage labour, it said, adding that Pegatron had now fired the executive with direct oversight of the programme. “The individuals at Pegatron responsible for the violations went to extraordinary lengths to evade our oversight mechanisms,” Apple said.