Director of labour market enforcement Sir David Metcalf has called on the government to embargo UK factories which fail to pay workers a minimum wage.
During the parliamentary inquiry into zero-hour contracts, Metcalf suggested that an embargo on factories non-compliant with employment law would provide fast fashion retailers with a significant incentive to work with compliant suppliers.
Earlier this month at the garment trade summit in Leicester Metcalf said that large fast fashion retailers like Next and Asos were concerned about being “tarred with the non-compliance brush”.
He also suggested that large companies should be held jointly liable for the practices of their manufacturers.
This comes just months after revelations that many UK textile factories supplying major retailers were paying below the minimum wage.
Anders Kristiansen, the former New Look chief executive said in August: “The vast majority of all UK factories have issues with health and safety and salaries.
“They have people on benefits and pay them a couple of pounds an hour. We‘ve audited so many factories and they just don‘t pass.”
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