"…A report from the New York-based China Labor Watch found that the Hengyang Foxconn plant in Hunan province, which primarily makes devices for Amazon, relies on temporary workers with a high turnover rate, pays them far less than the local average, and puts them on long, unpaid vacations…"

Amazon and its Chinese supplier Foxconn have moved swiftly to tackle illegal working conditions exposed in an investigation by the Observer and rights group China Labor Watch…

Amazon said last week that independent auditors had uncovered issues of concern at the factory in Hengyang, China…The investigation and the audit both found that Foxconn had hired too many agency workers – known as dispatch workers – in breach of Chinese labour laws and that payslips showed they had been paid a flat rate for overtime and regular work, instead of the time-and-a-half required by law. Excessive levels of overtime were also recorded.

Li Qiang, executive director of China Labor Watch, welcomed the changes but called on the companies to ensure workers were not left out of pocket. “It is good to hear Foxconn is addressing the violations found at the factory,” he said. “However, we hope both Amazon and Foxconn will ensure the dispatch workers, who were previously underpaid, receive the overtime pay they were entitled to in accordance with Chinese labour law…

…In a statement Foxconn said: “We are revamping the recruitment policy at our Hengyang campus. We will convert these dispatch workers, should they wish to do so, into regular probationary employees, who can transition to regular employees after successfully completing three months of work.” It added: “Our management team in Hengyang has also reminded all recruitment agencies of the need to comply with Chinese law and our requirements, including ensuring that each worker receives a copy of the labour contract they sign with the recruitment agency. Foxconn will immediately terminate our relationship with any agency that does not comply with our requirements.” The company claimed that it had paid agency workers an “aggregate” hourly wage which included overtime, but admitted this might be “confusing”…