The online shopping platform SHEIN has been the center of many issues, and usually, it's regard to its labor practices. After a UK documentary shone a light on these violations, it was revealed that employees would work more than the legal hours permitted, and their wages weren't released. SHEIN announced that it will allot $15 million to resolve it.
Damage Control for the Fashion Giant
SHEIN conducted an independent audit, which led to them discovering how overworked employees were in two factories in China. They registered around 12.5 to 13.5 working hours, which was illegal based on local law. Although, SHEIN countered that it was far from the hours that the documentary claimed.
The e-commerce platform has given the mentioned factories until the end of 2022 to rectify the situation, according to The Verge. Over the next three to four years, the company provided a budget of $15 million for physical enhancements to the factories. The company has not given specifics yet about how they will achieve it, or how it will affect workers.
As for the wages, SHEIN denied that they kept their workers from being paid. Seeing as the company is now valued at $100 billion, it would be an entirely new issue if it did withhold the salary of its workers, adding to the numerous allegations that the company is already facing.
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Previous Issues With SHEIN
The recent backlash that the company has faced just adds to the pile. They have already been called out for the harsh conditions that their workers have to stay in, as well as the amount of chemicals in the clothing that workers were exposed to. Not only that, several people on TikTok claimed that SHEIN stole their fashion designs, along with proof of it.
It has also been under fire for being irresponsible with production. Since it's a fast fashion company, it plays its part in harming the environment as well. The fashion giant release around a thousand designs per day, and since it's cheap, people are buying more than they need, impacting the growing amount of carbon emissions on Earth.
Now, an investigative report claimed that workers in the factories that were investigated put in 18 hours of work a day. That's on top of the fact that they only had one day off every month. They would start working at 8 AM and would only get off around two in the morning after making 500 pieces of products.
For all that hard work, they would be paid 4,000 yuan. That's around $570 dollars a month. If they made a mistake, the cost would be deducted from their daily wages. According to Glamour Magazine, women would wash their hair during their lunch breaks because there's so little time left after work.
There has also been an investigation that showed how many chemicals that company used. The chemicals found in the clothes were lead, PFAS, and phthalates, which are not only bad for the environment but for the workers making the clothes as well.
