The Taiwanese manufacturing giant, Foxconn which is also a key supplier of Apple iPhones has conceded that they had recently hired intern students who were aged as low as 14 years.
As per the Chinese labor laws, a firm cannot employ people below the age of 16 years and hence Foxconn has not only violated the Chinese labor laws but also their own in the process. Though interestingly, Foxconn added that the students were in no way associated with the production of Apple devices. But did not confirm whether these under age student worked at the Zhangzhou factory where the iPhone 5 is being produced.
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Recent media reports suggested that these underage students were deployed by Foxconn after the Apple iPhone manufacturing plant was said to be short on staff to meet ramped up production requirements.
Foxconn has also admitted that they usually hire students on internship programs but these students are always under the legal age and the students are given the option to leave the internship program whenever they want.
Foxconn has been muddled with controversies recently, with reports of human rights violation incidents or even the workers in the factory getting involved in skirmishes with each other resulting in the delay of production of important devices like the iPhone 5.