Quiz Investigates Claims Supplier Paid Employees Only £3 an Hour

Fast-fashion brand Quiz, a high street company, is investigating allegations that workers in one of its suppliers’ clothing factories are making unlivable wages.

Workers at the clothing factory in Leicester are allegedly making as little as £3 an hour. 

Quiz is a Glasgow-based company that operates more than 70 of its own stores across the U.K. and has 174 concessions at department stores such as Debenhams. The company employs more than 1,500 people in the U.K. and Ireland.

In the midst of the allegations, Quiz has said it is “extremely concerned” that workers are possibly working for £3 an hour, Wales Online reported. Quiz has promised to investigate the claims and says it will abandon any companies that fall short of its ethical standards and requirements.

For an adult over the age of 25, the living wage is £8.72 an hour, according to Wales Online. 

Quiz states that the claims “if found to be accurate are totally unacceptable,” and it appreciates efforts of the press for drawing attention to the clothing factory making Quiz products in Leicester that has allegedly breached both the law and Quiz’s ethical code of practice. 

“We are extremely concerned and disappointed to be informed of the alleged breach of National Living Wage requirements in a factory making Quiz products,” Quiz chief executive Tarak Ramzan said. “The Board is aware that Quiz has clear-cut social responsibilities and legal obligations and understands the critical importance of ensuring the Group’s products are sourced from manufacturers whose business operations conform to appropriate standards.”

The company believes one of its suppliers used a subcontractor in an outright violation of Quiz’s previous directions. The alleged actions of this subcontractor are the subject of the national living wage complaint. Pending further investigation, Quiz has suspended its relationship with the clothing factory in question.

The latest allegations follow a report in The Sunday Times newspaper that a Leicester clothing factory making Quiz clothing told an undercover journalist she would be paid £3 an hour instead of £8.72, the national minimum wage for people over 25.

Another Sunday Times investigation exposed that workers in a Leicester clothing factory for Quiz’s rival Boohoo were being compensated as little as £3.50 an hour, far below the £8.72 an hour national minimum wage.

The allegations follow a series of scandals involving clothing factories in Leicester, including suppliers to Boohoo, regarding the unlawfully low pay and conditions. The scandals were connected to the coronavirus pandemic, which constrained the city back into lockdown.

After these allegations, many retailers and influencers have turned their backs on Boohoo, according to the Daily Mail. Asos and Amazon have taken Boohoo clothes off of their websites, and other online retailers, such as Zalando and Very.co.uk, have temporarily halted the clothing’s sales on their websites.

Celebrities and influencers such as model Jayde Pierce and reality TV star Vas Morgan have also shunned Boohoo due to illegally paying workers less than than minimum wage, the Daily Mail reported.

More than £1 billion was obliterated from Boohoo’s share price as the clothing supplier pay rate scandal was exposed, according to the Daily Mail, and the National Crime Agency began an investigation into claims of modern slavery and exploitation in the Leicester’s clothing industry.

Home Secretary Priti Patel believes a fear of being labeled racist may have stopped police from combating Leicester’s “slave” sweatshops in the past. 

“We are thoroughly investigating this incident and will also conduct a fuller review of our supplier auditing processes to ensure that they are robust,” Ramzan said. “We will update our stakeholders in due course.”

Do these allegations sway you from shopping at stores like Quiz and Boohoo? Do you think the companies will correct these issues and prevent them in the future? Let us know in the comments.

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