Samsung sent a team on Friday to investigate claims that one of their Chinese suppliers was using child labor. The claims were made Monday by China Labor Watch against HEG Electronics, which supplies parts for Samsung, as well as Motorola and LG, according to the company's website (LG claims they have had no dealings with HEG).

According to CLW, their investigators were aware of at least 7 children working at the plant in just one department, and the group estimated that as many as 50-100 children may be employed at the facility, which is located in Huizhou, in the Guangdong province of China.

Not only were there an unknown number of child workers, but they were also being paid less than the adult workers, and often being forced into dangerous tasks, according to the CLW report, which led to many injuries. Working conditions in general were also poor, with workers forced to work 11-hour days with only one meal break, and as many as 28 days per month.

With Samsung announcing their intentions to visit the plant ahead of time, CLW warned that the child workers would likely be removed ahead of the inspection, and that Samsung investigators would have to be diligent in their search by interviewing other workers and assessing the number of vacant positions, which would indicate a large number of missing employees.

CLW had previously made harsh assessments of some of the Chinese suppliers to Apple, including Foxconn, where several workers committed suicide in recent years, yet said the conditions at HEG were well below the standards of Apple's suppliers.

Samsung stated that they had conducted 2 previous investigations of the facility this year, and had found no irregularities, but would return for another look in light of the CLW report.

"Given the report, we will conduct another field survey at the earliest possible time to ensure our previous inspections have been based on full information and to take appropriate measures to correct any problems that may surface" stated Samsung in a press release.

Do companies need to do more to ensure their suppliers are adhering to local labor laws? Has the situation for workers improved in China, or are companies just better at hiding their bad practices? Leave us your thoughts below (don't force your kid to write it for you either!).