iLounge

Apple contract manufacturer Foxconn has admitted to hiring underage interns as young as 14 years old, but the company claims that the hiring was somehow accomplished despite its policies. In a statement issued after performing an internal investigation at its Yantai facility, the company found working interns ranging in age from 14 to 16; China’s legal working age is 16. “This is not only a violation of China’s labor law, it is also a violation of Foxconn policy and immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions,” the company said.

The Foxconn statement follows a recently-issued statement from China Labor Watch about underage interns working at Foxconn. “The schools involved in this incident should take primary responsible (sic), but Foxconn is also culpable for not confirming the ages of their workers,” China Labor Watch said. [via CNET]