Hugo Boss continues to refuse to ensure that workers who made its branded clothes receive their legally owed severance at Heart and Mind, a garment factory that was located in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand and permanently closed on December 3, 2017.
Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing brands, achieving record sales of EUR 4.2 billion in 2023. Since Heart and Mind’s closure, workers have struggled to secure employment and pay for necessities.
A Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) investigation found that, at the time of its closure, Heart and Mind denied 98 employees their legally owed severance. Workers accrued their severance entitlements while making Hugo Boss and other branded children’s clothing.
Clearly violating Thai law, management at Heart and Mind threatened and intimidated workers, locking workers in a room to coerce them into signing resignation letters, effectively robbing them of their rightful severance. The WRC was able to contact 49 former Heart and Mind workers who were owed a total of 4,685,684 Thai baht (approximately US$149,368). Since Heart and Mind no longer exists as a business, the only realistic prospect of remedy is if buyers collectively pay workers’ legally mandated severance. After the WRC’s engagement, PVH Corp. (Tommy Hilfiger), El Corte Inglés, and other brands collectively contributed to the workers’ severance. The workers have received 2,263,408 Thai baht (approximately US$72,152) of the total severance owed to them. These much-needed funds have helped workers weather their loss of employment. One worker shared, “I would like to thank every organization that helped us, it was like we were about to drown, and then someone gave us a hand to help.”
However, the Heart and Mind workers are still owed about half of the amount due to them and they continue to face challenges in supporting their families. One worker reflected, “Even though our lives are better than before, there is still some roughness.” For another former Heart and Mind employee, the money will provide much-needed relief from the stress of unexpected medical bills, offering a sense of financial security that has been lacking. The worker shared, “We have to save and save because we don’t know what will happen. If we get sick, where will we find the money?”
In an email communication to the WRC, a Hugo Boss representative stated that the company would “explore ways in which we can contribute positively to improve the conditions for those affected” but refused to make any commitment to contribute funds to the workers, which would improve their conditions.
In line with its role as a global company and aware of the responsibility it bears, Hugo Boss should follow in the footsteps of the other buyers, who stepped up and took action to address the violation committed by Heart and Mind, by contributing funds to cover the severance owed to the workers. A Heart and Mind worker said, “In the final month before the factory closed, we continued to produce high-quality products for Hugo Boss. We took great care of your items, and now we’re asking you to turn around and pay attention to us. We need your help.”
Photo credit: Aaron Santos/ILO/Flickr