Ethical Issues at Gucci in Shenzhen: A Case Study

ACCOUNTING

INTRODUCTION
Being a part of The Kering Group, Original, Stronger and a continuous growth, Gucci is itself a
modern initiative in the fashion world. Being ruled by its new director, Alessandro Michele, the
company has faced a luxurious position and has turned out to be one of the most demanding
products in the world of fashion. Gucci products are the results of Italian artisanship and are
known for their detailed & keen attention to the quality (Siciliano, 2015)
. It is a matter of 2011 when Gucci was working towards opening as much as stores it can in the
country of China. The company had a shop at Shenzhen where the actual ethical issues arose
regarding the violation of labor laws and severe treatment of the employees working there.
CASE STUDY
It was Internet where a public letter, which was made to the top management of the company,
was circulated like a fire about how Gucci is involved in the severe treatment of the employees
working in its shop of Shenzhen in China, as on the date of 8th October, 2011. The letter was
written by five employees who accused Gucci of mistreating its employees and establishing a
strict environment. The letter stated that the excessive working hours with no payment for it
leads to a miscarriage of a female worker. Further, they maintained a strict environment like
asking for having a snack or a drink, limitations and a check on the time taken by an employee in
the washroom. The non-ethical issue was that such rules and regulations had to be strictly
adhered by the employees but not by the managers. (Wang and Snell, 2013)
Such a case came out as a highly discussed matter on the social platform. More matters of cruelty
started to come up like the matter of manipulating the records of working hours and the forced
overtime unpaid work. The system of Gucci was having a one full working day of 10 hours with
an off on the next day. But, the workers were made to sign out of the shop at the time fixed as a
end of working hours and were retained at the store for extra work that never ended before two
or three o’clock in the morning. They did this so as to establish a false record electronically so
that the management couldn't catch them of violating the concept of favorable working
environment (Seal, 2012). However, after such a case reached the top management, a statement
from the headquarters of Gucci in China came up claiming that the company wouldn't tolerate
such false allegations filed against them. The company conducted a keen and detailed