Amazon has come under fire from a workers’ rights group over its treatment of factory workers in China, accusing it of subjecting workers to excessive hoards and low pay.
China Labour Watch has accused Amazon’s contract manufacturer Foxconn, which runs a factory in Hunan province which manufactures Amazon Kindles and Amazon Dot devices, of violating Chinese law.
The 94-page report stated that the factory workers were putting in more than 100 hours of overtime, significantly above the 36 allowed by law, and were paid the same rates for overtime as standard hours despite being required by law to pay time and a half.
It also highlighted that the number of employees classed as temporary or “dispatch” workers was four times the legal limit of 10 per cent. Dispatch workers are understood to be paid just £1.69 per hour.
Amazon told Reuters that it conducted an audit of the site earlier this year and “immediately requested a corrective action plan from Foxconn” after finding two issues of concern.
It added that it was monitoring Foxconn’s response and was “committed to ensuring that these issues are resolved”.
Foxconn, China’s largest electronics manufacturer with over one million employees, pledged to improve working conditions back in 2010 following numerous staff suicides.
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