After a a Chinese labour watchdog fingered Samsung with child labour allegations, the company set to auditing its entire catalogue of factories. Initial results weren’t too great, but now the final results are in. While there’s no evidence of child labour, there are other problems to worry about.
The company has inspected 105 suppliers who produce components purely for Samsung products. Fortunately, the inspectors found no evidence of child labour — but poor working conditions were rife. Samsung lists “overtime hours in excess of local regulations, management of supplier companies holding copies of labour contracts, and the imposition of a system of fines for lateness or absences”.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Samsung has vowed to try and rectify those issues, promising to stamp out discrimination and fines, as well as increasing health and safety standards. It also recommended to the factories that “additional training for managers on sexual harassment and physical and verbal abuse” be instated. Sounds like a good idea. [Samsung via Verge]
Image: opopododo/Flickr