Press release: New investigation shows Amazon seller products made with forced labour concerns

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday 9th July, 2025

• Researchers traced fashion products from three UK-based sellers made in factories in Pakistan where workers reported not being paid minimum wages, working excessive hours and forced overtime, and had no contracts, payslips or social security
• Study highlights failure of Amazon to require appropriate checks ensuring sellers address exploitative labour in supplier facilities despite third-party sellers making up the bulk of the platform’s offering
• Increased risk linked to a marketplace model that provides access and impunity for hundreds of thousands of small fashion brands, lacking human rights policies, sourcing from hidden suppliers with limited worker rights protections.

LONDON, 9th July: A new investigation [1] released today highlights significant risk of hidden exploitation in Amazon seller supply chains for fashion products sold to UK consumers.

Researchers from the human rights campaign organisation Labour Behind the Label traced products sold on Amazon marketplace to 3 supplier factories in Pakistan, where workers reported not being paid minimum wages, working excessive hours and forced overtime, with no contracts or payslips, or access to mandatory social security.

Hussain, a machinist at a Pakistani supplier, producing products for small brands including Amazon seller Ice Cool Fashion, takes home 35,700 PKR (£95.50) monthly, working a 10 hour day. This is less than the minimum wage. He said: “We are barely surviving on such a salary. I live in a 2-room house with my five children. I hardly manage to pay for my utilities on such a salary and we are living hand to mouth.”

Campaigners say that the dominant position that Amazon holds in the UK fashion market is not matched by sufficient action to ensure that human rights are respected in seller supply chains linked to the production of fashion products sold on the platform.

Anna Bryher, Policy Lead for Labour Behind the Label said:
“The shocking findings in our new report show that Amazon’s monopoly is built on hidden exploitation. Third party sellers are fundamental to Amazon’s business model and its meteoric financial success. Yet forced labour products are just a few clicks away for the millions of Amazon shoppers buying fashion online. Behind the opulent display of Jeff Bezos’ recent wedding lies a dark truth: this obscene wealth was amassed with little care for transparency, worker well-being or the planet.”

She continued: “A lack of transparency breeds dirty, low-wage production and hidden exploitation. Amazon’s business model must stop harbouring risk and start opening its supply chains to public scrutiny so that people and the planet are truly protected.”

Amazon occupies a major position in the UK fashion market. 28 million brits – 40% of the population – bought fashion over the internet in 2024, generating £31.6 billion in UK revenue [2]. Amazon is repeatedly cited as the most popular online only location for shopping for clothing, and the report estimates that 87 million fashion products are for sale on its site [3]. Yet the vast majority of these products are sold via hidden small fashion brands, with limited supply chain visibility or sourcing policies. The growth of fashion seller businesses is said to be linked to a growth in orders from small suppliers with limited worker rights protections.

Recommendations in the report include that Amazon must require sellers to publicly disclose supplier details showing where their products are made, that it must implement and check compliance with mandatory human rights standards across its marketplace, and that it should commit to take joint action to ensure remedy for workers where abuses are found.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. Unboxing Marketplace Fashion: Worker rights in the supply chains behind online fashion consumption is available for download at https://labourbehindthelabel.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Unboxing-Marketplace-Fashion-Report.pdf

2. https://www.statista.com/topics/8759/fashion-e-commerce-in-the-united-kingdom/

3. This estimate is based on data that 350 million products are available on Amazon, and that fashion accounts for 25% across major product categories – https://www.statista.com/statistics/1309691/amazon-sales-share-product-category/

4. In response to coverage in The I Paper, Amazon said: “We take these allegations incredibly seriously and will not hesitate to take decisive action. We are currently investigating these claims.”

Labour Behind the Label campaigns for garment workers’ rights worldwide. We support garment worker’ efforts to improve their working conditions and change the fashion industry for the better. We raise awareness, conduct research, and promote international solidarity between workers and consumers. We are a UK member of the Clean Clothes Campaign. www.labourbehindthelabel.org

Contact: Anna Bryher // press@labourbehindthelabel.org // 07786 832035

Product findings

Amazon seller name: A2Z4Kids
Linked supplier: Irshad Sons Apparels, 177 J-B, Dhanola stop, Sajjad State, Millat Rd, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
Linked product matching shipping description: here.

The supplier link was traced using shipping records which showed over 1000 shipments for A2Z4kids Between May 2023 and April 2024 from Irshad Sons Apparels valued at a total of $1,198,060. 2.87 USD was paid per set for the leggings and crop top order. These are retailing on Amazon for £12.99

Allegations from interviews with workers:

• Minimum wages were not paid, as workers had to work 12-14 hours of overtime a week to receive take home pay at the lowest unskilled worker minimum wage. Workers were taking home 32,000 PKR a month.
• Many said they were required to do 2-6 hour overtime shifts, 3 times a week. In addition, workers were required to work on leave days, making their working week 7 days a week in order to make their take home salary.
• Workers reported overtime requirements as forced, rather than optional, which is a serious human rights risk.
• No workers were receiving payslips or had been provided with appointment letters at the start of their employment, which are both violations of the labour law.
• Workers said they were not registered for EOBI (pension) or PESSI (health and other social security provision) institutions. This is a legal requirement for employers, which is being violated at this facility.

Amazon seller name: Ice Cool Fashion
Linked supplier: A&M Fashions, Plot # CIB-25, Sector 16, Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi
Linked product matching shipping description: here.

The supplier link was traced using shipping records which showed 7 shipments for icecoolfashion between May 2023 and April 2024 from A&M Fashions valued at a total of $44,966.45. 8.37 USD was paid per piece for the maxi skirt order. These are retailing on Amazon for £29.99

Allegations from interviews with workers:

• Permanent workers we spoke to reported take home pay of 32,000 PKR a month, which is significantly below the minimum wage of 38,280 PKR per month for semi-skilled workers. Other workers we surveyed were employed on variable piece rates, and reported working 9-10 hour shifts a day to make their quotas. Their take home pay varied from 32500 – 41600 PKR, but adjusted for the legal 8 hour day, and taking into account that overtime should be paid at a double rate under the law, rates fall well below the minimum wage for semi-skilled or skilled sewing machine operators.
• Workers reported overtime requirements as forced on weekends when a shipment is due, rather than optional, and occasionally forced in the week. Force labour represents a serious human rights risk. Overtime was required but not often paid in full. Workers reported having to give additional unpaid hours as OT was not recorded correctly.
• No workers were receiving payslips or had been provided with appointment letters at the start of their employment, which are both violations of the labour law. Workers were paid in cash, again obscuring the wages paper trail.
• Illegal wage deductions were being made for lateness.
• Workers said they were not registered for EOBI (pension) or SESSI (health and other social security provision) institutions. This is a legal requirement for employers, which is being violated at this facility.
• A living wage for a worker in urban Karachi was calculated as 50,232 PKR in 2023, but this figure will have increased significantly since then due to the mass inflation and economic instability that Pakistan has been experiencing. Workers not being paid the minimum wage, let alone the living wage, represents a situation of exploitation.

Amazon seller name: Chums
Linked supplier: F.S. Industries, D -249/B Metroville S.I.T.E. Industrial area, Karachi, Pakistan
Linked product matching shipping description: here

The supplier link was traced using shipping records which showed 53 shipments for Chums between November 2023 and September 2024 from F.S. Industries valued at a total of $353,935.89. 12.08 USD was paid per 3 pack for nightdresses from the supplier. These are retailing on Amazon for £44.50.

Allegations from interviews with workers:

• All workers we spoke to (20% of the workforce), were paid less than the minimum wage, with monthly take home pay ranging from 23000 – 33000 PKR per month. For reference, the minimum wage for an unskilled worker is 37,000 and for a semi-skilled machine operator the minimum wage by law is 38,280, earned within a basic week of maximum 48 hours. All workers were employed on piece rate contracts.
• No workers were receiving payslips and no worker had been provided with an appointment letters at the start of their employment, which are both violations, and all were paid in cash.
• Workers reported overtime requirements as forced, rather than optional, which is a serious human rights risk.
• Workers said they were not registered for EOBI (pension) or SESSI (health and other social security provision) institutions. This is a legal requirement for employers.