Shein Found 2 Child Labor Cases in 2024 Factory Audits

Shein, the rapidly growing international fashion brand, is seeking to list on the London Stock Exchange in the UK. The company is under intense scrutiny from the British Parliament, various media outlets, and NGOs. International media have been conducting both overt and covert investigations into Shein’s supplier factories. Shein itself also conducts social responsibility audits of its supplier factories.

Shein’s factories are primarily located in China, Brazil, and Turkey.

In its response to the UK Parliamentary Committee, Shein disclosed that it conducted 4,300 factory audits in 2024, covering approximately 317,000 workers. In 2023, Shein conducted around 4,000 audits, indicating an increase in the number of suppliers being audited.

In the letter, Shein proactively disclosed that among the 4,300 audits conducted in 2024, two cases of child labor were identified.

One case involved the general manager of Factory A, who brought his 11-year-and-8-month-old child to the factory during summer vacation to “help with some work.” This situation was discovered and documented as a “child labor” non-compliance by a third-party auditor.

The other case involved Factory B employing a 15-year-and-3-month-old minor.

According to Shein’s human rights and social responsibility policy, the company maintains a zero-tolerance approach to child labor, forced labor, and other violations of basic human rights. Shein immediately terminated cooperation with both factories and removed them from its supply chain.

These two cases identified as “child labor” may actually be somewhat controversial in practice, particularly the first one. An 11-year-old child visiting their father’s factory during summer vacation, where the father serves as general manager, might have been playing, touring, or staying in the living quarters. Whether this should be classified as “child labor” is, in my opinion, debatable. However, specific details have not been disclosed.

Shein’s official stance on the details of what constitutes child labor also appears to acknowledge some ambiguity, as evidenced by their wording:

“Nevertheless, regardless of these details, we take this issue extremely seriously, including characterizing the incidents as child labor and immediately terminating relationships with the suppliers,” Shein’s General Counsel wrote in the letter.

This means that regardless of the specific circumstances, Shein has acknowledged the fact that two cases of child labor were found during audits and immediately terminated cooperation with those two factories.

In fact, if the factory had established a “childcare room” in the office building or dormitory, the above case might have been transformed from “child labor” into a “best practice.”