NEW YORK -- A worker's rights group is claiming -- again -- that Pegatron is shirking rules governing wages and overtime in China.

A report based on 2015 paystubs from Pegatron collected by China Labor Watch over the past 12 months asserts the EMS/ODM's Shanghai factory is chronically ignoring edicts ranging from minimum wages to the number of hours worked each month.

The factory builds iPhones for Apple and employs around 60,000 workers, CLW says. The NGO said its investigation from August 2015 to August 2016 revealed a pattern of lower wages and longer hours at the site. In many cases, the workers are being paid less than the government minimums while working in excess of limits set by Apple and Shanghai lawmakers.

CLW claims it found evidence that 62% of workers at the Shanghai plant work exceeded 82 hours of overtime work per month, far more than the maximum 60 hours a week as mandated by Apple and above the limit of 76 as regulated by Chinese law. 

The NGO also asserts that workers are paid an average $1.60 an hour, well below the Shanghai mimum of $2. A year ago, CLW says, factory hourly wages were $1.85, but have dropped since despite a government-mandated hike because Pegatron has increased the deductions from each worker's paycheck to cover expenses such as welfare and insurance.

Over the years CLW has often found issues with Pegatron and other Apple suppliers such as Foxconn and Quanta.

Register now for PCB West, the Silicon Valley's largest trade show for the printed circuit industry, taking place Sept. 13-15 in Santa Clara: pcbwest.com

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