"HP and Dell suspend use of interns in Chinese factories", 6 Oct 2015

...The investigation took DanWatch to the assembly lines of Wistron Corporation in Zhongshan, which manufactures servers for HP, Dell and Lenovo, where it found Chinese students working against their will – they won’t graduate otherwise – often between 10 to 12 hours a day for up to five months...

All three tech giants put in the crosshairs by DanWatch have corporate social responsibility policies and are part of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC)…Companies that are serious about their social responsibility must exercise due diligence, a concept that requires them to look closely at their operations, including their supply chains, and identify, prevent and mitigate negative human rights impacts and account for how they address them.

In this case it seems Dell, HP and Lenovo failed to look closely enough. Yes, the electronic’s industry supply chain is particularly complex, but these companies are not new to China and its issues…

While some companies singled out in this report have responded to the allegations better than others, it is still imperative for all of them to start treating due diligence as the cost of doing business in China, and anywhere else they operate.

That means devoting considerable resources for human rights due diligence, through training, regular unannounced plant inspections, not restricted to the company’s own assembly line and dedicated staff.