'To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.’ Lady Bracknell, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde

A similar allegation could be labeled against the fast-fashion retailer, Boohoo. In 2020 Boohoo faced allegations of modern slavery in respect of some of their workers in Leicester. In late November this year, Boohoo were facing further slavery claims, following a Sunday Times investigation at its warehouse in Burnley.  

Boohoo Group plc is a British online fashion retailer aimed at 16-30-year-olds. It employs over 5,000 people globally and has a mission aimed at young women which includes ‘to increase your self-esteem and body positivity to help you realise your true potential’.

The full report is available online and it is important to say that Boohoo denies many of the allegations in the report. However, in my view, two revelations of this nature within two years is not a good look for any company that wants to regard itself as an employer of choice.

What is really going on?

I think that what is really going on here has more of a nod to Dickens than to Wilde. Think instead of the factories in the fictional city of Coketown in Hard Times, or the workhouses of Oliver Twist. Dickens did much to shine a light on the poverty existing in society to those who would otherwise have been able to ignore it and continue to live in ignorant comfort. To me, the Times report performs a similar role in the modern workplace.

Corporate websites and brochures are full of references to diversity and inclusion, ESG, and well-being. However, in many organisations, minimum-wage employees working in poor conditions exist side-by-side with staff who enjoy mindfulness rooms and free lattes. The standard defense, and it is present in Boohoo’s response to the Times’ report, is that these allegations of poor practice are exaggerated, or are one-off incidents. This does not wash. Either blind eyes are being turned, or basic monitoring and management procedures are not working.  

We need to bear in mind that Boohoo operates in an incredibly competitive market, where speed of operation, combined with price pressure is what is required to stay with the pack. Warehouse work is always going to be low-paid, highly controlled, and grindingly hard.  However, that cannot be allowed to excuse poor practice. Low-margin, entry-level work does not justify or excuse poor health and safety, bullying management, or harassment, all of which are identified in the Times report.

I do not believe that Boohoo or any other organisation sets out to treat any of its employees badly. However, and particularly where there are cost pressures or remote outposts, poor practices can become endemic. In the short term, these may not be problematic for the organisation, but there will be consequences, and they will be bad.

Vigilance is key but so is being brave

Undoubtedly blind eyes are being turned, but it is the responsibility of HR professionals to ensure that bad things do not happen and that they are dealt with correctly if they do. Vigilance is everything. I do not know if there was a dedicated HR presence at Burnley, but surely if members of the HR team had been regular visitors to the warehouse then they would have got an idea of what was going on. The Times report describes the high temperatures as making the site like a ‘sweatbox’. It has pictures of poorly maintained equipment. Remote, unglamorous sites are a problem for any organisation. These cannot be ignored and must be regarded as an integral part of any organisation, and visited regularly.

Vigilance would have picked up on other problems as well. Warehouses are dangerous places, but the Times report highlights real warning signs, such as the high frequency of accidents (ambulances were, apparently, called out on average once a month over a five-year period), poorly fitting safety gear, and inadequate training. Who was monitoring health and safety? Where were the records?  

Did HR ever speak to the line managers, operations managers, or trainers at the site? The report contains plenty of examples of managers implementing dubious procedures and practices. Did HR ever seek to understand the attitude and behaviours of these managers? Were there attempts to call out these behaviours? It is not enough simply to be vigilant, we also need to be brave: when there is an unacceptable practice or attitude then it needs to be addressed.

Were the HR team brave enough? The Times report speaks of complaints to HR; it reports incidents of sexual and racial harassment and discrimination, and the settling of claims. It seems inconceivable therefore that HR were not aware of the issues, but there is no evidence that they did anything about it.

What can the HR team do?

Many HR teams perceive themselves as conflicted, and focus hard on ensuring that they act in the best interests of the organisation rather than being perceived as caregivers to troubled or troublesome employees, but this is a false dichotomy. Boohoo has suffered real damage as a result of the Times report, just as it did following the 2020 allegations. Effective HR teams can keep an organisation honest: raising and then dealing with difficult issues, which may cause short-term pain, but tend to be in the best long-term interests of any organisation. Everyone needs a critical friend, and for many organisations that will be the HR team. 

As an HR professional have you felt under pressure or conflicted when there is evidently an issue in your organisation that isn’t right or isn’t being dealt with properly? Perhaps your HR team is championing honesty and meeting challenges head-on, making the organisation a better employer every day. I speak to business owners who want to improve the culture of their business and invest in their workforce but don’t know where to start. My advice – start with good HR people. Give them the brief to be the eyes and ears of your business and help embed best practice and open and bold communication across the organisation.