Taiwan-based Foxconn Electronics, which was accused by the media last year for mistreating Chinese workers who manufactured Apple iPods, is now involved in another labor scandal.

According to local media reports, more than 200 security guards gathered at the south gate of Foxconn's factory in Shenzhen this week, and another 40 went to Shenzhen Municipal Labor Bureau to ask the company to pay them for additional work hours. It is said that Foxconn owed as much as several million yuan in back-pay to these security guards.

The security guards who appealed to SMLB for help said that though Foxconn's labor contract stipulated that the security guards work for eight hours per day and can have at least one day off each week, they were actually asked to work for 12 hours per day, but were seldom given any rest time each month since February 2005. The guards said that they had never received any payment for these extra work hours.

According to relevant labor regulations, Foxconn should pay each of these guards at least CNY1000 each month in back-pay, so each year it owed a total of several million yuan to these security guards.

Foxconn has reportedly sent its management to consult with the security guards on the payment issues and agreed to pay each of them CNY300/month for the past years' extra work time, but the company's offer was turned down by the guards who believed that they should get higher payment.