Mattel Adopts Labor Code for Contractors, Suppliers

Mattel Inc. on Thursday established a code of conduct for its suppliers and contractors prohibiting the use of child labor and the breaking of minimum wage laws.

The El Segundo-based maker of Barbie dolls and other best-selling toys said the code doesn’t allow its plants or contractors to hire workers under the age of 16 or to use forced labor or prison labor. Mattel said it will terminate suppliers that fail to meet the standards.

The apparel industry sets its minimum age at 14, and companies such as Gap Inc. and Nike Inc. have come under scrutiny in recent months about safety conditions, wages and child labor concerns at foreign plants.

“All of these folks are responding to this kind of criticism,” said John Taylor, an analyst with Arcadia Investment Corp. “But I think this is more an issue that is in the press than in investors’ minds.”

In December, an NBC-TV news program reported that a contractor working for Mattel in Indonesia paid 13-year-old girls $2 a day to make Barbie clothes.

To enforce its code, the company, which also makes Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars and Cabbage Patch dolls, has set up an independent monitoring system.

The company said it has already severed ties with three overseas contractors, including the Indonesia factory that employed 13-year-olds and two factories in China that failed to meet company-mandated safety standards.