Apple puts Taiwanese supplier Pegatron on probation for exploitation of students

Apple on Monday claimed that it had put Taiwanese supplier Pegatron on probation after realising that the company has been overworking student employees.

The company reportedly violated Apple’s supplier code of conduct by making student employees extra, mostly overnight. 

According to Reuters, Pegatron had falsely classified student workers and had also put forward false paperwork to hide the violations.

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In addition, the company also breached a code by allowing students to take up work which may not be in sync with their majors.

Pegatron is one of few Taiwanese manufcaturers, along with Foxconn, the dominating player in Apple’s manufacturing chain line.

"Several weeks ago, we discovered Pegatron - one of Apple's suppliers in China - violated Apple's Supplier Code of Conduct in its administration of a student work study programme," Apple said in a statement.

"Apple has placed Pegatron on probation and Pegatron will not receive any new business from Apple until they complete all of the corrective actions required”, the Apple statement added.

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However, no proof of underage of forced labour was found. Pegatron had fired the executive who was in charge of the programme. 

"The individuals at Pegatron responsible for the violations went to extraordinary lengths to evade our oversight mechanisms," Apple added in its statement.