Boohoo urged to link bonuses to workers’ rights and sustainability improvements
The chairman of fast fashion retailer Boohoo has been urged to link its bonus scheme for senior executives to improvements on workers’ rights and sustainability.
MPs have written to Mahmud Kamani asking him to update the Environmental Audit Committee on the firm’s progress on its environmental and social responsibilities, and welcomed the “positive steps” it has made so far.
The committee’s scrutiny follows the publication of an independent review, conducted by Alison Levitt QC, found that allegations first revealed by the Sunday Times of low pay and poor working conditions at Boohoo’s Leicester supplier “not merely well-founded but substantially true”.
It also revealed that the company’s monitoring of its Leicester supply chain was “inadequate”, which was “attributable to weak corporate governance”.
The company vowed to address all of the concerns raised in the report.
Environmental Audit Committee chairman Philip Dunne MP said: “Boohoo’s rapid growth has taken the UK garment industry by storm. It has been linked to poor pay and conditions in UK garment factories. But to its credit, it has pledged to clean up its act.
“We have written to Mr Kamani to seek updates on a range of issues, including on supply chain transparency.
“We are asking Boohoo to put its money where its mouth is and link the multi-million pound bonuses it has lined up for its bosses to the achievement of its ethical and environmental pledges.”