China Labor Watch have alleged that Samsung hired children and underage student workers at supplier Shinyang Electronics in Dongguan to meet production targets during a period of high demand.
Although there is currently no confirmation of an active investigation by the authorities, Samsung said in a statement that no child labor was found by an external audit of about 100 Chinese suppliers; their audit also found that 55 of the suppliers did not provide safety equipment to employees and that excessive hours were common place..
A New York based watchdog found that the underage workers were required to work for 11 hours a day without overtime pay or social insurance.
This follows what could be considered a bad week for Samsung, after their Brazil plant was robbed of $36m in electronics equipment, and their revision of the second quarter earnings which saw a 25% drop in profit on last years figures for the same period.
Source: Phys | Image: BGR