Boohoo hits back over ‘smiling’ castigation claims

BOSSES at Manchester-based online fashion firm Boohoo.com have hit back following the second of two Dispatches documentaries in which a whistleblower said workers were castigated for smiling.

It has been alleged the company operated a “three strikes” policy for agency staff, with workers told off for smiling and lateness and having to undergo regular security checks before leaving or going for toilet breaks at its £25m Burnley site.

Other types of punishment include 15 minutes’ worth of pay being docked for being a minute late to a shift.

However, management of listed Boohoo has insisted the three strikes policy is not recognised there and that agency staff are not treated differently to full-time workers.

And the firm has hailed the efforts of staff at its Widow Hill Road base, which has grown from just 65 in 2010 to an estimated 1,642 by the end of last year, mirroring a 40% leap in revenues.

A total of 330 former agency staff were taken on permanently during 2016, the firm has said, and major plans were revealed late last year to increase the workforce to 2,686.

A Boohoo spokesperson said: “We have invested over £25m in the Burnley site in the last three years and we have made a public commitment to invest £70m over the next seven years.

“We have announced a £5m spend on new facilities for 2017, designed to improve the working environment of our employees.

“This will include a 24-hour subsidised restaurant as well as gym and leisure facilities.
 
“In 2016, Boohoo raised £37,000 through colleague fundraising events and charitable donations.

“This included events for the Pendleside Hospice in Burnley, most notably, a sample sale which raised £7,600.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady condemned working practices at the Burnley factory, as part of the Dispatches programme.

Burnley Council leader Cllr Mark Townsend criticised the company over a previous Dispatches report aired last week, which claimed workers making Boohoo clothes were being paid £3.25 an hour, less than half the national living wage.