Shein, the popular clothing, accessories and home goods retailer that offers bargain deals, said it discovered two cases of child labor between the first and third quarters of 2023.
In his Latest Sustainability Report In a statement released last week, Shein said the discoveries were made through audits the company conducted on suppliers working with the brand. Shein says it defines children as anyone under the age of 15; in China, it is illegal to employ children under 16. Shein did not specify which factories employed children or how many were discovered.
“Upon discovering these violations, SHEIN suspended orders from contracted manufacturers and launched investigations,” the company writes. Under the policy in place at the time, manufacturers had 30 days to resolve the violation by “terminating contracts with underage employees, ensuring payment of outstanding wages, arranging medical checks, and facilitating repatriation to parents or legal guardians as necessary.” Beginning in October 2023, Shein says it has enforced stricter rules regarding contractors found to be using child labor; those suppliers will now be immediately terminated by Shein.
The company says it found no cases of child labor in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Shein’s dispersed supply chain means that the products sold on its website aren’t all made under one roof or by a single company — the brand works with a network of manufacturers, making it difficult to track working conditions and potential labor violations. The company also operates a marketplace where it sells products from third-party sellers.
The cheap, fast products that Shein (and competitors like Temu) sell coexist with a stark reality: the workers who make the items are victims of abuse. In 2022, Shein said it would spend $15 million to renovate factories and increase audits after an investigation found that some workers were subject to illegally long work hours. But subsequent reports found that little has changed: A report by human rights group Public Eye earlier this year found that some China-based workers They said they worked 75 hours a week.One worker told the group that they work from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and can only afford to take one day off a month.
Shein exists primarily online, where influencers post haul videos to promote the brand, praising its “affordability.” As the company has strengthened its presence in the U.S., it has tried to shed some of its negative public image by recruiting influencers to visit factories in China and hosting in-person pop-up events open to the public. But the amazon competitor has struggled to fend off sustained scrutiny over its business practices. Some experts say Shein’s plans to go public in the U.S. this year are increasingly unlikelyThe company has recently filed for a London stock exchange listing. stocks/fashion-empire-shein-has-filed-for-london-ipo-fcda5fd5″>according to The Wall Street Journal. The company was valued at $66 billion last year.
