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Forced Overtime Without Pay All overtime work is mandatory. Failure to work overtime is punished with stiff fines, amounting to a full week’s wages. For example, the second time a worker misses the required overtime, she will be fined $10.84 and also lose her attendance bonus for the entire month, which amounts to $6.02.The $16.86 she loses in fines is more than she earns working a full 70-hour work week. The third time a worker misses overtime, she is immediately fired. Cheated on Overtime Pay Every worker reported of being shortchanged on the number of overtime hours actually worked. Pou Yuen management simply under reports the hours. Most workers at Pou Kuen are paid on a piece rate basis, but there are over 500 workers who are paid by the hour. Pou Yuen management arbitrarily sets their daily production quota so high that the workers cannot possibly reach the goal in eight hours.  The whole production line must then remain at work, unpaid, for an additional three to four hours each day until the quota is met.Those working on a piece rate receive no overtime premium for the long extra hours. No matter how many hours a week they work, they are always paid the same standard piece rate. Low Wages The average wage in the factory appears to be 22 to 23 cents per hour. For example, for working approximately 70 hours a week, most women earned 580 rmb, or $69.88 a month, or $16.13 a week, which would then equal 22 or 23 cents an hour. (There are 8.3 rmb to $1.00 U.S.) For working 70 hours a week, workers earn: · 22 - 23 cents an hour                 · $2.30 a day (for a 10-hour day) · $16.13 a week (for a 7-day, 70-hour workweek)                     · $69.88 a month                         · $838.55 a year                          Back to top In March 2000, several women at Pou Yuen reported that most of the workers assembling Timberland shoes were then earning 400 to 500 rmb per month, working approximately 55 hours per week. This would put their earnings at between $11.12 and $13.90 a week, or 20 to 25 cents an hour. The lowest wage we saw was 16 cents an hour, $11.12, for working a 69-hour week. The highest take-home wage for production workers appeared to be 38 cents an hour.  At any given time there are up to 280 “trainees” employed at the factory. They earn as little as 12 cents an hour, earning just $6.67 for a 55-hour workweek. Harsh Factory Conditions … Temperatures of 100-plus degrees Fahrenheit Besides complaining about the excessively high production goals, the extremely long, forced overtime hours, the exhaustion of working seven days a week and the low wages, the women also reported that during the hot season temperatures in the factory would regularly exceed 100 degrees. Especially in the technical section, the factory air is thick with dust, and in the adhesive area there is a strong smell of chemicals. Workers handle toxic glues and other solvents without gloves. There is inadequate ventilation in the plant, and noise levels around certain machinery equals that of a New York City express train racing through a station. The workers were very upset that they had no idea how their wages were calculated and that they varied so much from month to month. The workers have no idea how the various piece rates are set, or what exactly is being deducted from their wages. They are left completely in the dark.

None of the Pou Yuen workers our researchers spoke with had ever seen or even heard of the Timberland Code of Conduct. Not that it would matter very much, since China’s own labor laws as well as internationally recognized labor rights standards are routinely and systematically violated at the Pou Yuen factories with complete impunity. That is the real root of the problem.

Timberland’s Code of Conduct Even Timberland’s weak code of conduct, which allows 14 and 15-year olds to work 12 hour shifts, regularly putting in 60-hour work weeks, while being paid straight time for long overtime hours, is being routinely violated in China. Nor does Timberland’s Code of Conduct include respect for the rights of women (who are regularly 80% of the workforce), payment of at least subsistence wages, public disclosure of factory names and locations, or independent verification of factory conditions by local respected independent non-governmental, religious, human and women’s rights organizations.

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The average wage in the factory appears to be 22 to 23 cents per hour ... working approximately 70 hours a week ... most women earn about $16.13 a week.

Threatened and Told to Lie to the U.S. Auditors When U.S. auditors representing Timberland arrive, the visits are announced in advance. Beforehand, the workers are threatened never to criticize factory conditions, and are trained to lie to the auditors. Factory managers follow the auditors around the factory to monitor and intervene in any interviews with the workers. The workers report being very afraid when the monitors arrive. Living Conditions: 12 to a Room Seventy percent, or 2,520 of the Timberland workers are housed in two nearby eight-story dormitories, where they are crowded in, 12 people to a small 13 by 20 foot room.

There are 32 rooms per floor.  More than two dozen workers share one bathroom. Both the factory and the dorms are under surveillance 24 hours a day by private company security guards. There is No Independent Union at the Pou Yuen Factory This is typical of privately owned factories in China. Of course any attempt to form an independent union at the factory would be immediately crushed through firings and arrests. Anyone the Chinese government considered a ringleader in such an organizing effort would be imprisoned without trial for 5 to 8 years, under administrative detention, in a hard labor camp. There are no labor rights in China.

Timberland shoes are also produced at the Maystar Footwear factory


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Timberland’s Guiding Principles for Choosing Business Partners

We are committed to doing business only with partners… Who choose their employees based on their ability to do the job, not on … individual characteristics. [VIOLATED] FACT: Eighty percent of the workers in the Pou Yuen plant are young women 16 to 25 years of age.At 25 they are fired because they are “used up” and “exhausted” from the 12-to-14-hour shifts, seven days a week, and for fear they may get pregnant, since the company does not want to pay maternity benefits. (Article 62 of China’s labor code states: “After childbirth female workers shall be entitled to no less than ninety days of maternity leave with pay.” Who recognize the right for employees to freely associate and bargain collectively … [VIOLATED] FACT:There is no real union at the Pou Yuen factory, and any attempt to organize an independent union there would be met with firings, beatings, arrests and imprisonment without trial for 5-to-8 years in a hard labor camp.Pou Yuen management has formed a company-controlled “union” to organize recreational activities.There are no labor rights in China. This environment must be free of harassment, abuse, retribution for grievances … [VIOLATED] FACT: Workers are threatened by Pou Yuen management not to criticize or openly discuss factory conditions with Timberland’s auditors, and are coached to lie. The workers are very frightened when the company’s auditors tour the factory. We will not do business with partners whose employees presence is anything other than voluntary. This specifically prohibits… any forms of forced labor... [VIOLATED] FACT:All overtime work at Pou Yuen is mandatory.During the peak season workers are at the factory 98 hours a week, while being paid for 80½ hours.Failure to work overtime is punished with the loss of one week’s wages.On the third such occasion, the worker is fired. The poverty level wages also drive the women to work overtime. Any attempt to organize an independent union there would be met with firings, beatings, arrests and imprisonment without trial for 5-to-8 years in a hard labor camp

In addition to compensating for regular work hours, partners must provide compensation to employees for overtime hours at a premium rate … [VIOLATED] FACT:Because of the excessively high production quotas set by Pou Yuen management, hourly workers are regularly forced to work 3 to 4 overtime hours each day without pay.Nor do piece rate workers receive an overtime premium, despite working 80 hours a week.In fact, most workers report being shortchanged of overtime hours actually worked, which do not appear on their pay stubs. We will seek partners who do not apply conditional employment practices, such as training wages, pre-employment fees and deposits… [VIOLATED] FACT:At the Pou Yuen factory there are over 275 “trainees” being paid as little as 12 cents an hour, or $6.67 for a 55-hour work week.Most workers pay approximately $50 to a private local labor service to get a job at Pou Yuen. We will seek partners whose employees’ regular work schedule … is not more than 48 hours per six-day period. Our partners must ensure that employees hours do not regularly exceed 60 hours in a given week, 12 hours in a given day, or more than 6 consecutive days without a day off… [VIOLATED] FACT:As has been noted, during the busy peak season at the Pou Yuen factory, employees assembling Timberland are forced to work up to 14 hours a day – from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. – seven days a week.During this season, they are regularly at the factory 98 hours a week.Timberland workers get one or two Sundays off per month. We will seek business partners who provide their employees with a safe and healthy work environment … [VIOLATED] FACT:The temperature in the Pou Yuen factory regularly exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the hot season.Workers handle toxic glues without gloves.In sections of the factory the air is thick with dust and in other areas the noise levels are deafening. We seek partners who provide residential environments that are safe and healthy… [VIOLATED] ]  FACT:Workers sewing Timberland shoes at Pou Yuen are housed 12 to a room measuring less than 13 by 20 feet.More than two dozen workers share one bathroom.