This report investigates labour rights risks in China’s solar panel manufacturing industry through the voices of workers themselves. Drawing on hundreds of thousands of posts and comments from Chinese social media platforms and online forums, we have documented daily experiences on factory floors and in company dormitories.
The analysis identifies recurring patterns of excessive and coerced overtime, withheld wages and unlawful deductions, deceptive recruitment, unsafe working conditions, and inadequate dormitory housing. It also examines coercive management practices, discrimination and job insecurity and provides risk profiles for major solar panel manufacturers in China.
The findings show that worker exploitation in China’s solar panel industry is a sector-wide concern. There is an urgent need for worker-centred human rights due diligence to ensure that the global transition to renewable energy does not come at the expense of workers’ rights and dignity.
See also our report on state-imposed forced labour in the solar panel manufacturing sector.
Go to the report “State-Imposed Forced Labour in the Solar Panel Sector in China”