Foxconn in Beijing is under investigation for failing to pay the housing accumulation fund for its 10,000 employees over nine years.
A Foxconn employee, Luo Xiao (not his real name), told METRO the company had informed employees there is no law that compels it to pay into the fund.
An officer with the Beijing Housing Accumulation Fund said the government is investigating the matter.
"If the company did not pay the fund, employees need to complain with their ID certificates to the Daxing management department of the center," said the officer, who didn't want to be named.
Luo said that since the company started in Beijing in 2001, it has not paid into the fund for any of its employees, including managers. Luo joined the company as an engineer in 2006 after graduation.
Luo said more than 80 percent of the Foxconn Beijing employees work on the assembly lines. He said workers get about 800 yuan a month, and mid-level employees, like him, earn about 3,000 yuan.
Under the accumulation fund rules, factories need to pay 12 percent of an employee's salary into the fund. In Foxconn's case, it amounts to 1 million yuan a month.
The ordinance also says employers should pay into the fund on time.
The Foxconn factory is in Yizhuang business development area, where many other manufactures are also located.
Luo said his friends working in other factories have said most of the other manufacturers pay housing accumulation funds for employees, including workers.
Foxconn has dorms and if employees choose to live there, they will not get a housing allowance, which is 700 yuan a month for mid-level employees and about 200 yuan for workers, said another mid-level employee who didn't want to be named.
"It may look like we can choose between the dorm and housing allowance, but in reality, we can't," he said.
"It's a harsh company culture and employees do not have the right to choose anything."
He said that as four to six people share a room at the dorm, he could not live there because he has a family.
Luo said he had complained about the fund problem on the website of the Beijing Housing Accumulation Fund Management Center, but hasn't had a reply. But he and his colleagues will not complain to the company directly. "After all, we still need to work," he said.
A receptionist with Foxconn said the company would only respond to e-mail interviews. The company did not respond to e-mail questions sent by METRO.
