Gucci sacks senior managers after mistreatment claims

A fashion multinational claims to have sacked senior managers in China after accusations of mistreatment and inhumane working conditions.

Gucci was accused by employees at its Shenzhen outlet of ‘cruel behaviour’ and ‘torture’, including being forced to pay for goods stolen by customers, stand for 14 hours a day and ask permission to use the toilet. Signatories to a letter sent to the Chinese Global Times claimed they were owed thousands of dollars in wages and that some had suffered miscarriages as a result of their treatment.

The Italian label, which has 42 stores in China, said it “does not and will not endorse or tolerate the alleged malpractices”, and the situation arose because of “mismanagement of Gucci’s China branch” and not failures of the company at large. It has ‘replaced’ the store’s senior management and recruited external consultants to conduct a ‘comprehensive review’ of its treatment of staff in China.

The action follows news of recurring suicides at Apple’s Foxconn factories in Taiwan. The Foxconn problem was publicized last year after 18 attempted suicides resulting from working conditions at the company.