Fairphone
Partly verified✓ Checks its own supply chain. Fairphone actively looks for problems such as child or forced labour, publishes what it finds and works to fix it. That openness is uncommon, so problems it finds and reports itself are shown below but don't count against its grade.
Fairphone is working towards a living wage through living wages it can already prove for part of its supply chain, with no serious warning signs. It just can't yet prove workers earn one.
Last researched 8 October 2026
Heading in the right direction. Workers are paid enough to live on, or the company is certified as working towards it, and there are no serious warning signs. One piece is still unproven. What this grade means
Good: 3 of 5
- Pays a living wage
- Respects worker rights
- Full supply chain audit, or made only in countries with rigorous labour standards
- No child or forced labour findings
- Publishes where its products are made (supplier list, named farms or its own factories)
Great: 2 of 3
- Pays beyond a living wage
- Finds and fixes problems, or invests directly in workers' communities
- Actively empowers workers
Needs all Good requirements plus two of these.
Red flags: 0
None found.
Where it's made
| Country | Worker rights | Legal wages | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | Systematic violations | Below a living wage | Moderate |
Country conditions from the ITUC Global Rights Index, Global Slavery Index and living wage benchmarks. Certifications and audits can raise a company above its countries' baseline.
Why this grade
- Cobalt, tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold mining carry child and forced labour risk (DR Congo, Indonesia), and assembly overtime is widespread. (partly offset by certification or direct sourcing)
- Certified B Corp: Whole-company assessment. Labour is one part of the score, so it is supportive rather than proof.
- Conflict-free minerals programme: Responsible sourcing for tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold or cobalt.
- Publishes supplier list
- Proves a living wage for part of its supply chain only
- Uses recycled metals or fibres
- Invests in worker and farming communities
- Actively empowers workers (ownership, worker committees, union agreements, training)
- Independent social audits of all its main factories
Fairphone's phones are assembled in China: its supplier list names Huizhou TCL Mobile Communication in Guangdong as the final assembler of the Fairphone 4 and 5, and Fairphone says this factory holds SA8000 certification, an independently audited social standard, while its earbud assembler in Dongguan is audited against BSCI. Independent social audits are rare further down the chain: only 8 of 116 listed component suppliers (7%) had SA8000, RBA or BSCI-type audits in 2024, and Fairphone does not say which key component suppliers are audited. Its Living Wage Bonus tops up pay for hours worked on Fairphone production at its final assembly factory and several key suppliers ($215,000 to 1,650 workers at five factories in 2025), but there is no dated target for a full living wage, and because F
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| B Corp directory | Found | Certified B Corp since April 2015 with an overall score of 136.8 (Workers 26.1). View ↗ |
| Fairtrade (incl. FLOCERT and Fairtrade ANZ) | Unclear | Fairphone uses Fairtrade gold in some components of the Gen. 6, but most of its gold, silver and cobalt is covered by Fairmined credits; its phones are not Fairtrade certified products. View ↗ |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Unclear | The DOL list includes cobalt ore, a material used in phone batteries, among its listed goods; it does not name individual companies. View ↗ |
| UK Modern Slavery Statement Registry | Unclear | No UK modern slavery statement from Fairphone was confirmed. View ↗ |
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Unclear | No Australian modern slavery statement from Fairphone was confirmed. View ↗ |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Not listed | No allegations against Fairphone were found. View ↗ |
Confirmed issues
Problems confirmed by a court, regulator, completed investigation or the company itself. Issues more than 15 years old, or 10–15 years old where the company made amends, are removed. Problems a company finds and publishes itself, and is fixing, are shown but don't count against it.
| When | What happened | Made amends? |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | A social assessment commissioned by Fairphone found weekly hours of up to 77 and stretches of up to 31 days without a rest day at its Fairphone 2 assembler Hi-P in Suzhou in 2014-2015, with some excess hours still recorded in April 2016. Found and being fixed by the company Not counted against the grade, because the company found and published it itself. | Partly Hi-P introduced a working-hours control system and a 60-hour weekly cap from August 2015; Fairphone committed to better production forecasts, but by April 2016 some workers still exceeded 60 hours or |
Sources (12)
- Supply Chain Engagement Report 2024 (Fairphone, May 2024) · archived copy · Huizhou TCL Mobile Communication assembles the Fairphone 4 and 5 and HONSENN (Dongguan) assembles Fairbuds; both tier 1 suppliers audited by independent parties, with valid SA8000 certification at sma
- Making working conditions fairer for everyone (Fairphone, July 2026) · archived copy · Living Wage Bonus pays the difference for each hour worked on Fairphone production; $215,000 to 1,650 workers across five supplier factories in 2025; over $1.25 million since 2019.
- Fairphone Addresses Living Wage Gaps in the Electronics Supply Chain (WageIndicator) · archived copy · Bonus at final assembly equals about one extra month's salary per year while the gap is roughly ten times that; not everyone reaches a living wage because of Fairphone's small share of factory output.
- Supply Chain Engagement FP4 2022 (Fairphone) · archived copy · Published Fairphone 4 supplier list; final assembly at Huizhou TCL Mobile Communication, Guangdong, China; 83.8% of suppliers with identified facilities in China; living wage bonus for final assembly
- Fairphone Impact Report 2025 (April 2026) · archived copy · Gen. 6 assembled in a living wage bonus factory (assembler not named); Fairphone says it requires social compliance certifications such as SA8000 and RBA Silver; daily wage about US$16-17 against a US
- Fairphone 4 Supply Chain Engagement Report 2023 (Fairphone) · archived copy · TCL Huizhou listed as final assembler; USD 745,000 in living wage bonuses since 2019; sponsored worker surveys and assessments without naming the organisations; no dated living wage target.
- Partnering up for progress with Arima (Fairphone, August 2019) · archived copy · Fairphone 3 assembler Arima assessed with a worker survey run by the Economic Rights Institute; low pay identified as a key concern; three-year action plan and EUR 1.50 per phone bonus for all workers
- Ethical mobile phones shopping guide (Ethical Consumer, updated October 2024) · archived copy · Fairphone is a Best Buy and the only brand with full marks in the workers' rights category; most production facilities are in China.
- The Fairphone (Gen. 6): a smartphone that is fairer in every way (Fairphone) · archived copy · Gen. 6 final assembly facility not named; speaker module supplier now pays full living wages to all its workers; Fairtrade gold in some components.
- Fairphone (Gen. 6+) with modular design, 5-year warranty announced (FoneArena, August 2026) · archived copy · 51% fair or recycled materials by weight across 15 materials; Fairmined credits for gold, silver and cobalt; Fairphone co-founded the Fair Cobalt Alliance and pays premiums via Fair Cobalt Credits; fi
- Fairphone boekt recordjaar dankzij Fairphone 6 (Androidworld, April 2026) · archived copy · 2025 impact report: about 51.31% fair or recycled materials in Fairphone 6; copper credits and Fair Cobalt Alliance funding for mining communities in Congo and Colombia; revenue EUR 73.3 million.
- Our 2024 impact report is out: here are the highlights (Fairphone, April 2025) · archived copy · USD 91,000 in living wage bonuses to 1,500+ workers across three factories in 2024; worker surveys led to women's training, improved grievance mechanisms and harassment prevention.
Last researched 8 October 2026 · details still being verified. Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Represent this company and think something is wrong? A right-of-reply form is coming soon.