A Chinese labor organization has again accused Apple of allowing long hours, discrimination, and delayed pay at Foxconn's main iPhone factory.
Apple does not control the factories run by Foxconn and others, but as a major customer of them, it claims to require good working conditions for staff. In 2020, Apple even delayed ordering iPhones from Luxshare in Vietnam because staff housing was inadequate.
Nonetheless, Apple has regularly been accused of allowing poor conditions for factory workers, particularly by the China Labor Watch (CLW) organization. Now according to the Financial Times, CLW has again reported that conditions in Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant are poor.
And in some cases, Foxconn's practices are allegedly illegal under Chinese law.
"Despite Apple's repeated pledges to improve conditions over the past decade, our investigation finds that core labor issues remain," said Li Qiang, founder of CLW. "Apple's supply chain continues to depend on a vast, disposable workforce."
Breaking the law
The illegal aspect specifically concerns seasonal staff known as "dispatch workers." Under Chinese law these can be no more than 10% of a company's workforce — but Foxconn had over 50%.
Those workers then had part of their wages delayed with payment schedules that are designed to deter them from quitting. These staff are brought on when iPhone production ramps up over the summer, and Foxconn needs significantly more workers.
But it's also cheaper to hire dispatch workers, as they don't have to have benefits such as paid sick leave, paid vacations, or certain forms of medical insurance.
CLW's report says that there is also systemic discrimination against both ethnic minorities, and pregnant women.
"Foxconn does not have an explicit policy that bans minorities," said one source. "But if you submit their application to their hiring app, it will get rejected."
Up until September 2025, Foxconn also required workers to undergo x-ray examinations as part of a health check. According to the CLW, this effectively barred pregnant women from working at the factory.
Working conditions
The CLW has not always confined its investigation to Foxconn. In 2018, it examined Catcher Technology Co, which made iPhone cases, and claimed that workers did not always get goggles despite working near sprays of tiny metallic particles.
They also wouldn't necessarily get earplugs despite the sound of the factory floor exceeding 80 decibels. Then workers would skip washing, because of a lack of hot water and showers.
Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant
After that 2018 report, Apple sent what it described as an additional team to audit Catcher Technology Co. Apple said at the time that its team did not find any evidence of violation of its standards.
"We know our work is never done and we investigate each and every allegation thats made," said an Apple spokesperson in 2018. "We remain dedicated to doing all we can to protect the workers in our supply chain."
Conditions in 2025 appear better, and the Financial Times followed up the CLW's claims with interviews that only partially agreed with the labor organization's report. Specifically, some workers interviewed outside the factory said that conditions were better than at other companies.
Apple and Foxconn respond
Following the new CLW report, Apple reportedly responded that teams were "on site and [have] begun an immediate investigation." Apple also said that it was "firmly committed to the highest standards of labor, human rights, environmental, and ethical conduct".
For its part, Foxconn claimed that is "an equal opportunity employer" and does not "stand for discrimination". Plus it claimed that for two years now, it has "proactively undergone independent, third-party audits [which showed] critical compliance and transparency in social and environmental responsibility".
CLW did note what it describes as a small improvement in average overtime hours. It also found no evidence of underage workers.
In 2022, Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant was the scene of a mass riot as workers objected to the then-current conditions.
