workers

Create a shift calendar using Shift Worker's Calendar Lite

There are quite a few calendar apps in the iOS app store, many of them offering pared-down, intuitive interfaces that interact with Facebook and other online services. Shift Worker's Calendar is designed to serve a specific niche of individuals and managers in industries with shift workers. Integrating tools for recording overtime, shift schedules and total compensation, it has as lot of promise, but ultimately falls flat due to clunky, at times frustrating design choices, unnecessary tools and a lack of resources to guide in setup.

It's not immediately clear who this app is for, whether it would be … Read more

PayWindow 2012 Payroll Systems takes some of the pain out of payroll time

We've tried quite a few payroll programs over time, and they tend to share certain features, such as a database of company, employee, financial, and tax information that greatly simplifies the process of creating payrolls and reports. PayWindow 2012 Payroll System is a fine example of the type. Once you've populated its database with the facts it needs, doing the payroll becomes a matter of a few clicks, not hours of calculations. PayWindow 2012 (build 10) is free to try for 30 days and costs $89.95 to register.

It's probably safe to say that business owners … Read more

Obama backs immigration reform for skilled tech workers

Tech companies may score a victory in their hopes to get immigration reform passed for skilled tech workers.

President Obama urged Congress today to work on immigration policy that would allow foreign-born startup founders to stay in the country. At the same time, several U.S. senators introduced a bill focusing on the same. As U.S. immigration policy currently stands, U.S.-educated computer programmers and engineers could be deported once finishing school.

"Right now in one of those classrooms there's a student wrestling with how to turn their big idea -- their Intel or Instagram -- … Read more

Apple fires supplier after audit uncovers underage workers

Apple has severed its relationship with a China-based third-party labor supplier after discovering a conspiracy to employ dozens of underage workers there, Apple reported in its latest Supplier Responsibility report, which was released this evening.

The iPhone maker said it discovered the violations during an audit of the supplier, Guangdong Real Faith Pingzhou Electronics (PZ). In addition, Apple reported the labor agency that knowingly provided the child labor to PZ to local authorizes.

The agency, which allegedly conspired with the children's families to falsify age-verification documents, had its license suspended and was levied a fine.

"The children were … Read more

Workplace dispute roils Foxconn supplier in China

Foxconn Technology Group, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer that assembles products for Apple and several other tech giants, acknowledged a "workplace issue" at a factory in Fengcheng, China, run by one of its suppliers, Jiangxi Xin Hai Yang Precision Components Co.

A Hong Kong watchdog group -- Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour, or SACOM -- called it a strike of more than 1,000 workers who took to the streets to demand better pay and dignity. While Foxconn did not disclose the products or components made at the factory, a Sacom representative said she believes workers there produce … Read more

Chinese arbitrators rule against brain-damaged Foxconn worker

Chinese labor arbitrators have ruled against the father of a Foxconn worker severely injured in a factory accident last year, according to documents reviewed by Reuters.

Zhang Guangde -- the father of Zhang Tingzhen -- took Foxconn to court in October, a year after his son was hit with a massive electrical shock while repairing a spotlight in Foxconn's Shenzhen factory. Zhang suffered major brain damage after falling 12 feet to the ground, an injury that required doctors to remove half of his brain to keep him alive.

Since the accident, Foxconn had been paying Zhang's medical bills. … Read more

Foxconn accused of mistreating severely injured worker

While fixing a spotlight high up on the wall of a Foxconn factory in Shenzhen, China, Zhang Tingzhen was hit with a massive electric shock. According to Reuters, he fell 12 feet and suffered severe brain damage. Zhang, 26, has since undergone five operations and is still unable to leave the hospital.

Foxconn, however, is saying its time for him to go.

"Foxconn must bear responsibilities for the injuries," Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior project officer Debby Chan told CNET. "If there are adequate personal protective equipment and measures on the shop floor...the accident could … Read more

Foxconn confirms dispute between workers at China factory

Foxconn, a principal maker of Apple's iPhone 5, has confirmed that two disputes between employees occurred at one of its factories in China earlier this month.

Foxconn, which is the world's largest component maker, said the disputes occurred between factory line workers and quality assurance personnel on October 1-2 at its Zhengzhou plant and that it has taken steps to address the disputes, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

"There has been no workplace stoppage in that facility or any other Foxconn facility and production has continued on schedule," The Taiwan-based company said in a … Read more

Foxconn riot spurs pledge on overtime pay

The riot at a Foxconn facility appears to have been related to overtime pay, a report says, but the incident shouldn't impact iPhone 5 shipments.

Foxconn, which builds Apple products, shut down a Chinese facility earlier this week after rioting broke out among workers. The company in a statement today said it will "ensure its duties relating to employee welfare are implemented and it will make overtime payments as promised," according to a Digitimes report.

The company also said the riot shouldn't affect shipments for "the latest smartphone product" as the facility doesn't … Read more