Samsung Electronics has decided to suspend its business temporarily with a supplier from China after accusations of child labor.
On July 10, China Labor Watch released an accusation against Dongguan Shinyang Electronics Co. Ltd., alleging that the company is hiring children in its factory.
Samsung's investigation on the matter revealed evidence of child labor at the workplace of Dongguan Shinyang Electronics, prompting the company's decision for business suspension with the supplier in accordance to Samsung's zero tolerance policy on the issue of child labor.
Samsung revealed its decision in a statement posted on Samsung Tomorrow, which is the official global blog of the company.
"It is unfortunate that the allegation surfaced despite Samsung's efforts to prevent child labor at its suppliers," the statement said.
Samsung added that the company routinely inspects its Chinese suppliers to check if the companies are adhering to Samsung's pledge against the malpractice of child labor. For Dongguan Shinyang Electronics, three audits on separate occasions have been done by Samsung since 2013, with the last investigation ending just last month on June 25. During the previous investigations, Samsung did not find any evidence that the supplier was engaging in child labor.
However, the investigation launched by Samsung after the accusations made by China Labor Watch showed that the company undertook an illegal hiring process which happened on June 29.
Samsung said that if the ongoing investigations prove that Dongguan Shinyang Electronics engaged in child labor, Samsung will permanently cease all business with the supplier.
In addition, Samsung said that the company will improve its hiring process, not only in the company's own production facilities but also at the facilities of the company's suppliers, to ensure that such a case will never happen again.
Authorities of China are also investigating the matter, the statement said.
In the statement that Samsung posted in the same blog on July 10 in response to the accusations of China Labor Watch, the company detailed its initiative to implement a new hiring process at the end of 2012, which includes personal interviews of employment candidates, electronic scanner usage to identify fake IDs, and distribution of guidelines that discuss Samsung's stand against child labor. In addition, Samsung introduced a facial recognition system in its suppliers in April.
Samsung added that as the company looks to provide world-class working conditions to the company's own facilities, it is moving as fast as it can to solve the labor related problems stemming from Samsung's external suppliers.
