Apple is investigating claims that Chinese female workers at a factory in Longhua, in communist China, which manufactures the high-fashion iPod nano music players, earn only $50 a month, work 15-hour shifts, and endure “slave” conditions, contrary to the company’s stated employment policies.

A report in the British newspaper the Mail on Sunday said workers at another iPod factory in Suzhou, China, earn about $100 a month, a little above the minimum wage for the district.

According to a China Labor Watch project coordinator, Xiao Min Zheng, the minimum wage in Shenzhen, where Longhua and the iPod nano factory are located, is 690 renminbi, or yuan, or about $80 a month.

However, the Mail reported that half of the workers’ paychecks were automatically deducted to pay for a primitive factory dormitory with 100 beds a room that was strictly run and did not allow visits by the workers’ families or anyone who did not work at the factory.

According to the Apple Web site, the company claims it does not tolerate violations of its supplier code of conduct. “Recognized standards such as International Labour Organization Standards (ILO), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Social Accountability International (SAI), and the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) were used as references in preparing this Code.”

Apple has been obliged to issue a brief statement saying they were mounting an investigation into the damaging allegations.The release says the company is “committed to ensuring that working conditions in our supply chain are safe, workers are treated with respect and dignity, and manufacturing processes are environmentally responsible.”

However, a full four days after the report was first published, Apple remained unable to say whether the allegations of poor employment conditions was correct. Contacted by the New York Sun yesterday, corporate media relations senior manager, Steve Dowling, said he was unable to comment beyond the press release.

The report comes at a time when Apple is riding high. Two months ago the company announced a net quarterly profit of $410 million and boasted that its fiscal 2006 second quarter revenue has grown 34% over the last year.

The ubiquitous iPod, which has become the essential fashion accessory for young Americans, contributed greatly to Apple’s earnings.The company sold 8,526,000 iPods during the last quarter, which represents a 61% growth in iPods over the previous year. By contrast, growth in Macintosh computer sales totaled a modest 4%.

According to a Human Rights Watch senior researcher in the Asia Division, Mickey Spiegel, the investigation by Apple should gauge whether workers are: receiving at least the minimum wage; limiting the number of hours of work according to local standards; paying overtime when overtime is due; and keeping abreast of health and safety issues, which include housing conditions and conditions on the factory floor, with attentiveness to possible toxic fumes and unsafe equipment.

Ms. Spiegel noted that it is rare for a company to keep abreast of working conditions at an overseas factory. “How up the current company is in those areas – the numbers of hours, health and safety standards, payment of overtime – is not something generally known,” she said.

The claims of “slave” working conditions in Chinese factories also fall upon Apple’s contract manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision Industry. Ms. Spiegel thinks both companies should be held responsible if Apple’s investigations confirm that working conditions fall below the minimum standard of living.

“Probably both [Apple and Hon Hai] should be held responsible if in fact Apple is making certain its products are manufactured based on a set of conditions,” she said.

She also pointed out that the local Chinese authorities are responsible for ensuring employers adhere to labor codes. “The local government in the province should be ensuring factories in the area are living up to standards and meeting legal obligations as well as human rights obligations, though inspectors do look the other way in many countries, including the U.S.”

Ms. Spiegel pointed out that Chinese local labor bureaus suffer from inadequate manpower and widespread corruption, citing recent coverage of illegal operations in Chinese mining regions, which involved collusion between government officials and mine owners to turn a blind eye to dangerous working conditions.

Ms. Spiegel noted, however, that Chinese workers often flock to Western companies in order to flee alternative jobs which are more poorly paid. “Generally speaking, working conditions at Western companies in China are better than in factories owned by non-Western companies,” she said.