Foxconn, the largest electronics manufacturer in the world, has admitted that some of its employees may not have met the minimum age of employment in China. Already a subject of huge controversy surrounding its labour conditions, this latest allegation is not helping the manufacturer’s ailing reputation.

The news has emerged following a statement issued by the Taiwanese-owned company, which has admitted that some of students in its summer internship programme were as young as 14-years-old. This is below China’s minimum working age of 16. Foxconn currently produces the majority of the world’s electronics, including products for Apple, Sony, Acer, Amazon, Dell, HP, Nintendo, Microsoft, Toshiba, Intel, Nokia and Motorola.

An internal investigation has been launched to try and determine how under-age interns ended up at the factory, after Chinese media reports brought the issue to light. In a statement, Foxconn has accepted responsibility for the violations, and have apologised to each of the under-age interns involved.

China Labour Watch, a labour watchdog organisation, said that the interns were sent to Foxconn by schools, but that the manufacturer failed to check their ID’s upon arrival at the plant. Although the group feels that the schools should bear the main responsibility, they state that Foxconn should also be culpable for not confirming the age of its workers.

Given the firm’s links to multiple large-scale global electronics companies, reputation is becoming more and more important. Incidents like this only solidify an image that the firm is desperately trying to shake.

[Source: BBC]