During peak season, work for piece-rate workers usually lasts from 8:00 am to around 12:00 am. Long hours and low wages in factory producing stuffed dolls and plastic toys.
Incident Tag: Excessive Work Hours
Work hours exceeding the limit of 48 hours/week.
The ILO Hours of Work (Industry) Convention (No. 1) of 1919 introduced a maximum standard working time of 48 hours per week and eight hours per day as an international norm. In several exceptional cases, working time is allowed to exceed these limits, as long
as daily working time remains not higher than ten hours, and weekly working time not higher than 56 hours.
“The ILO conventions that address working hours have established a maximum of 48 hours per week plus 12 hours of overtime and this can only be applied on a sometime basis.”
Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 1)
Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30)
These two Conventions set the general standard at 48 regular hours of
work per week, with a maximum of 8 hours per day.
Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14)
Weekly Rest (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1957 (No. 106)
Set the general standard that workers shall enjoy a rest period of at least
24 consecutive hours every 7 days.
Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (No. 132)
Every person to whom the Convention applies shall enjoy at least three
working weeks of annual paid holiday for one year of service.
Part-Time Work Convention, 1994 (No. 175)
Requires ratifying states to ensure that part-time workers receive the same
protection, basic wage and social security, as well as employment conditions
equivalent to those accorded to comparable full-time workers.
Fresh labor violations in Chinese factory producing the “cheap” iPhone
Labor violations at factory (30,000 workers) manufcturing iphones: hiring discrimination over age (18-35) and tattoos; inadequate safety training; 12 hour daily work shifts; approximately 6 days/week; work reaching 110 hours of monthly overtime; standing work for 11.5 hours; 11 hours of forced and unpaid monthly overtime; potential audit fraud; workers rely on overtime work to earn a living wage; base wage is 1,500 RMB ($245).
Chinese Electronics Factory Hiring Child Labor
Workers report a large number of child workers at electronics manufacturing company, some as young as 12 to 14, working 11 hours per day.
Investigations on Toy Suppliers in China: Workers are still suffering (1)
Each worker averages a total of 300 hours per month, making plastic toys. Harsh conditions, low pay and lack of safety precautions.
Ju Qian (Capable) Furniture Factory Report
Workers during slow season stay in factory for 12 hours/day, 6 days/week making furniture, among other violations. Peak season schedule – 15 hours/day.
Made in China: The Sweatshop behind the Bratz
Workers paid below subsistence-level wages making Bratz dolls; 51 ½ cents an hour; $4.13 a day. Routine 13 ½ to 15 ½ –hour shifts, seven days a week.
Samsung’s Audits Ineffective, More Child Workers Uncovered
3 children as low as 14 years of age were discovered in electronics factory (1100 workers): 12 hour daily shifts; over 150 hours of monthly overtime during peak season; crude management culture.
Deterioration of Mattel’s Labor Conditions: An Investigation of Four Factories (Dong Yao -DDYT)
Labor problems at toy factory (900 to 2,100 employees): extreme 180-210 monthly overtime in peak season (June-September); up to 14-15 hour daily shifts 6-7 days/week (including 6-7 hours of daily overtime); overtime illegally paid; lack of a living wage; 15 minute daily unpaid work; safety concerns; spray paint workers did not wear masks.
Update: 3000 to 4000 workers strike at Foxconn’s China factory
Three to four thousand production workers strike, protesting overly strict demands on product quality without providing worker training for the corresponding skills.
Holiday Cards of Abuse: Wal-Mart in China
Workers kept at the factory 13 hours/day, seven days a week, paid 34 cents an hour making gift cards & notebooks.