ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

130 migrant factory workers and one migrant child have brought claims against Tesco PLC, Ek-Chai Distribution System Company Limited (a company owned by Tesco PLC until 2020) and two UK headquartered auditing companies in the English High Court, with a claim filed protectively on 21 January 2022. The claims are for alleged negligence and unjust enrichment.

A letter before claim was sent to the defendants to the proceedings making allegations in relation to V.K. Garments factory in Mae Sot, Thailand from where Tesco PLC allegedly sourced clothing for its F&F range from 2017 to 2020. The claims relate to the working conditions at the relevant factory with allegations including: being paid as little as £3 per day to work from 8am to 11pm (less than half of Thai minimum wage for an 8-hour working day), having to work through the night to fulfil large orders for the F&F clothing range with no breaks, serious injuries being sustained and factory accommodation being unsafe, unsecure and unsanitary.

The allegations have been denied by the defendants, including Tesco PLC, which also did not accept that claims should be brought in England. 

The claimants are reportedly seeking settlement of the claim, subject to which, the matter may be progressed in the High Court.

Claims have previously been filed in Thailand, including in 2020 where the workers filed a complaint with the Thai Department of Labour Protection and Welfare regarding the factory’s failure to pay two years of wages. The department subsequently ordered payment of severance and notice pay, disregarding the rest of the wages the claimants said were owed. Reports from January 2024 state that the workers were seeking to appeal the decision to the Thai Supreme Court.

In March 2023, Thai police also brought criminal charges against the clothing factory marking a change in approach following allegations of a ‘sham’ investigation undertaken in December 2022.