Shein continues to be in the public eye in connection to the treatment of workers at its supplier factories and as the e-tailer gears up for its IPO, scrutiny of that treatment has become more intense. Now a new report has claimed that excessively long hours are continuing.

Swiss advocacy group Public Eye has followed up a report it issued just over two years ago saying that some workers still face 75-hour weeks at companies supplying the fast-fashion giant.

It’s a perennial issue raised around working conditions for many businesses in the fashion sector that use external production facilities and has led to much stricter controls being put in place across the industry. But abuses remain.

Public Eye said it interviewed 13 employees from the six Chinese factories who talked of long overtime hours being commonplace.

The report highlighted six sites in Guangzhou having to put in excessive overtime with the group saying the interviews were conducted last year.

Shein doesn’t disclose its suppliers but Public Eye said the factories’ status was established “based on the interviewees’ responses and the Shein products visible during manufacturing”.

It said the six production sites it visited mostly comprised small workshops employing 40 to 80 workers, but also included two larger factories with up to 200 workers. 

“In both cases, interviewees stated that they worked an average 12-hour working day – minus lunch and dinner breaks – at least six, but usually even seven days a week,” the group said. It added that there were “hardly any changes” in wages levels since its earlier report in late 2021.

In response, Shein told the BBC it was “working hard” to address the issues raised by the report and had made “significant progress on enhancing conditions”. It added that it was investing tens of millions of dollars “in strengthening governance and compliance across our supply chain”.

And it told Public Eye that its suppliers are required to ensure they meet local rules on wages and working hours, with “firm action” taken if suppliers are found to contravene its own policies.