The online fast fashion retailer said it is “extremely concerned” by the claims presented in the programme. The investigation by Channel 4, which aired last night, saw an undercover journalist named “Mei” visit factories to reveal the appalling hours and wages of Shein workers. Mei claimed to find evidence of “exploitative working conditions” during her investigation.
The locations of the factories were not revealed in order to protect the undercover reporter and her colleagues. During the programme, it was revealed that there are no defined working hours and that workers are only allowed one day off per month. Some were found to be working 18-hour days.
Workers in the factory received a wage of 3p per item produced. If they made a mistake, they were fined up to three quarters of an average workers daily salary (100 yuan/£12). Channel 4’s reporter also said she found a “culture of design theft” within the fast fashion company. The programme found that Shein “scrapes social media for emerging trends, turning them into designs which they commission in small batches from a network of thousands of factories in Guangzhou, China”.
Shein responded to the documentary’s findings, and said: “We are extremely concerned by the claims presented by Channel 4, which would violate the Code of Conduct agreed to by every Shein supplier.
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