Samsung supplier workers forced to do 16-hour days with one day off per month

TweakTown reports poor work conditions at Samsung's China-based suppliers are in the news today, as word leaked out that employees at some factories are pushed to do 16-hour workdays with just a single day off per month. According to a report by China Labor Watch, workers usually work from three to ix times the legal overtime limit. Samsung vowed to eliminate hours beyond legal limits by the end of 2014.

The New York-based China Labor Watch have said that employees working at Samsung's suppliers sometime work a crazy 16 hours per day, with just a single day off per month. Samsung said on Monday, after a review of 105 of its Chinese suppliers, which involved more than 65,000 employees, that illegal work practices were found. But the South Korean company said that the companies involved would be given two more years to change their ways.

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The worst situation is in a Samsung supplier factory called Chitwing Mould Industry (Dongguan) Co., Ltd, where workers' overtime hours surpass 220 hours per month. Workers here can work up to 15 or 16 hours per day with perhaps one day of rest per month. Samsung uses an audit system to monitor factories, but audits are renowned for their lack of reliability. Instead of audits, Samsung should establish direct channels of communication with its workers, such as worker committees or a worker hotline.