Samsung is facing a fresh accusation that one of its China suppliers hired children to meet production targets during a period of high demand from the South Korean electronics giant, according to Reuters.
Samsung announced on Thursday it is looking into the allegation by China Labor Watch that its supplier Shinyang Electronics in Dongguan hired children and student workers under the legal working age, Reuters reported.
The accusation conflicts with Samsung's recent report on conditions at suppliers and after it said no child labor was found by an external audit last year of about 100 Chinese suppliers, Reuters reported. Citing its latest finding, China Labor Watch said Samsung's audit showing no child labor was inaccurate.
That audit found 59 suppliers that did not provide safety equipment to employees. It also said excessive working hours were commonplace, according to Reuters.
The New York-based labor watchdog said children were hired during a busy production period, worked for 11 hours a day without overtime pay and without social insurance, according to Reuters. They usually left employment after three to six months when demand from Samsung declined, but without any severance pay.
China Labor Watch said in 2012 that Samsung was turning a blind eye to child labor at its suppliers in China where billions of Apple and Samsung smartphones are assembled, Reuters reported. The 2012 report also said working conditions at Samsung suppliers were "inhumane," citing workers laboring beyond legally permitted hours and other problems.
Samsung then promised to eliminate illegal overtime and other labor violations and began detailing its efforts to remove child workers, such as introducing a new hiring process with strict identity checks at its suppliers in China, according to Reuters.
If Samsung did not make the necessary changes, China said it would end ties with the hundreds of Samsung suppliers in China, Reuters reported.
