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"Apple has updated its\u00A0Labor and Human Rights\u00A0page to detailing its efforts to curtail excessive work weeks in its suppliers factories, like Foxconn in China.\r\n\r\nThe updates include the fact that they are now tracking over 900k workers \u2014 up from 800K in August and 500K in January \u2014 to gather the data. Apple's 60-hour work week compliance rate was down nearly 10% from August's high of 97% to 88% in September. Apple requires that workers never work more than 60 hours in a week, which is in line with Chinese labor law.\r\n\r\nHowever, a new note has been added to the page text that seeks to explain the drop:\r\nIn limited peak periods, we allow work beyond the 60 hour limit for those employees that volunteer to do so.\r\nThis 'peak' production period would no doubt include the iPhone 5, iPod touch models and two new iPads including the iPad mini.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nDespite the drop, which is unfortunate, Apple remains one of the only major tech companies to maintain this kind of transparency about its supplier's working conditions.\r\nApple Supplier Responsibility History\r\nApple factories in China came under scrutiny after a set of articles in The New York Times, including\u00A0How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work\u00A0and\u00A0In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad. Joel Johnson\u2019s\u00A01 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who\u2019s to Blame?\u00A0article in Wired was also cited by many.\r\n\r\nIn\u00A0January 13\u00A0of this year,\u00A0Apple became the first technology company to join the Fair Labor Association, signing an agreement to let the FLA independently assess the quality of Apple\u2019s supply chain. A report from the FLA in August noted that 284 items on its recommended changes list had been complied with and that some 76 remained.\r\n\r\nThis followed the launch of its new\u00A0Supplier Responsibility website, which included\u00A0a\u00A0list of its official suppliers, the first time the company had ever publicly disclosed them.\r\n\r\nAt a\u00A0conference in February, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that \u201CNo one is doing more to improve working conditions in China than Apple,\u201D indicating that the company knew it should be doing more.\r\n\r\nApple\u2019s\u00A0supplier responsibility\u00A0page tracks subjects related to the company\u2019s supply chain like\u00A0labor and human rights,\u00A0worker health and safety,\u00A0environmental\u00A0impact and\u00A0general ethics.\r\n\r\nImage Credit:\u00A0Apple"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/11/09/apple-suppliers-60-hour-week-compliance-rate-down-from-97-to-88-in-sept-due-to-peak-production/>