Samsung supplier said to have breached laws

A supplier for Samsung Electronics is not paying some overtime to workers at its mobile-phone factory in Guangdong, according to a labour rights group.

Samkwang Science & Technology in Dongguan also violated Chinese labour laws by discriminating against men, pregnant women, ethnic minorities and applicants older than 39, the New York-based China Labour Watch said in a report on its website. The allegations are based on an undercover investigation of the factory, the statement said.

Samsung, Asia's largest technology company and the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, said it had no immediate comment on the report. The South Korea-based company, like other manufacturers such as Apple, has come under scrutiny for the way its component suppliers treat workers.

China Labour Watch sent an "investigator" to work on the Samkwang production line for two weeks assembling mobile phone covers and screens in the plant, which employs more than 5,000 people, the group said.

The factory did not pay workers at least US$84,000 in overtime pay each month, according to the statement. That worked out to more than US$1 million a year, the group said.

Samsung reported in October that net income excluding minority interest rose 25 per cent to 8.05 trillion won (US$7.6 billion) in the third quarter.