Samsung again has to face child labor allegations in China, The Wall Street Journal reports, where China Labor Watch said it found several cases of underage workers being hired by at least one Samsung supplier in the country – Shinyang Electronics. Samsung on Thursday said it’s looking into these findings, adding that according to its previous audits – both internal and external – no underage workers were found at more than 100 Samsung suppliers that were inspected in China.
“We are urgently looking into the latest allegations and will take appropriate measures in accordance with our policies to prevent any cases of child labor in our suppliers,” Samsung said in a statement.
Samsung conducted audits in March and August 2013, and then again in June 2014, finding “no instances of child labor” at the 100 of its suppliers in China it surveyed, although it’s not clear whether Shinyang was included in any of those audits.
Shinyang makes cellphone covers and parts for Samsung, with China Labor Watch saying the company has hired 15 year olds that were using other people’s IDs. The teens were working for 11 hours a day, of which only 10 were paid. Furthermore, the underage workers were employed for three to six months, the watchdog revealed, saying that Samsung’s child labor monitoring systems are “ineffective.”
