Last week, a group called out a Samsung supplier for alleged exploitation of child labor in a Chinese factory. This morning, Samsung announced that it has suspended its business with this contractor after its own investigation turned up some sketchy hiring practices.
The catalyst for the suspension was a July 10 report from China Labor Watch, which alleges that Shinyang Electronics in Dongguan, China, hires child labor for its busiest times of the year.
“These minors will usually only work for a period of three to six months, toiling for 11 hours every day without overtime pay,” wrote CLW, “and the factory does not purchase social insurance for them as required by law. These young workers usually leave the factory as it enters the off-season, and the factory does not need to provide any sort of severance pay.”
CLW also claimed that these young factory workers were not given pre-job safety training and were not provided protective equipment.
Samsung, which claims a zero-tolerance policy on child labor in its supply chain, says it began its own investigation in response to the CLW report.
The electronics giant said it had audited this particular factory three times since 2013 — most recently on June 25 — and found no evidence of labor violations.
However, after taking a new look at the facility, Samsung now says its investigators “found evidences of illegal hiring process that took place on June 29.”
As such, the company has temporarily suspended work with this supplier. Samsung says that it their investigations conclude that the supplier did indeed hire children illegally, “Samsung will permanently halt business with the supplier in accordance with its zero tolerance policy on child labor.”
by Chris Morran via Consumerist
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