Apple updates report on supplier working conditions

It probably wasn't Mike Daisey's fabricated "theatrical work" that moved Apple to work on improving working conditions for employees at overseas suppliers, but even if it wasn't, the company is doing a great job of making good on their plans to help those employees.

Apple is providing monthly updates on its Supplier Responsibility web pages to let the public know how they're doing. The current focus is on making sure that people aren't working ridiculously long hours, one issue that has been implicated in the past suicides of some Foxconn employees. Apple's guidelines state that employees should work less than 60 hours per week, and the company reported that for January, the compliance rate with the guideline as 84 percent.

For February, there was a noticeable increase in compliance, with the rate bumping up to 89 percent. Among 500,000 workers, the average workweek was an almost-comfortable 48 hours. As we've noted before here on TUAW, Apple is working with the Fair Labor Association to perform audits of working and living conditions for many of the employees working for Foxconn and other suppliers.

As 2012 progresses, we look forward to seeing Apple moving ahead in the area of labor and human rights.

[via Macworld]