Foxconn stops payments to suicide workers' families

TAIPEI: Taiwan's IT giant Foxconn said on Thursday it has stopped offering condolence payments to the families of staff members who kill themselves as it tries to stem a spate of factory suicides in China.

The decision is part of a series of initiatives including raising wages, offering consoling services and installing safety nets, an official said.

Ten employees have leapt to their deaths at Foxconn's sprawling plant in southern Shenzhen city this year, while an 11th committed suicide at a north Chinese facility.

Chinese media have reported that the families of those who died had received compensation of up to 100,000 yuan (14,500 US), equivalent to about 10 years' work at the company.

Foxconn officials declined to confirm the amount of compensation, saying it was given on a case-by-case basis.

Observers have speculated that some of the workers might have killed themselves to trigger the payment to their relatives.

Foxconn, the world's biggest electronics contractor which makes products for companies such as Apple, Nokia and Dell, has been accused of overworking its staff after the suicides.

But company founder Terry Gou said none of the suicides was directly work-related and that he was cleared by Chinese authorities of any wrongdoing in the period up to the suicides.

The company made a surprise announcement Monday that it would increase the monthly salary for its Shenzhen assembly line workers to 2,000 yuan from October 1.