Working 7 days a week, with every other Sunday off. Punishment for taking a day off is the loss of 3 or 4 days wages. Workers caught riding the scooters are fined 1 to 2 days wages. Dozing at work will result in the loss of up to one week s wages. The workers are not provided their legally required work contract.
Workers are afraid to leave the factory-dorm compound.
Although the company charges the migrant workers for their temporary residency permit, they never give the permits to the workers, who are then virtually trapped. If they are stopped and questioned by the police while outside of the factory compound, they can be fined 2 to 3 weeks wages and deported, because they do not have their residency permits with them. These workers are the ultimate contingency workforce. When the market demand from the U.S. winds down in October, thousands of workers are laid off, while others are forced into month-long furloughs without pay. During the low season, wages can drop as low as 14 cents an hour.