Home » Corporate social responsibility » Initiatives from the public authorities and other stakeholders » CSR: when auditors cease working with companies accused of bad practice CSR: when auditors cease working with companies accused of bad practice Through . Published on 20 October 2020 à 12h25 - Update on 20 October 2020 à 12h02 Resources On October 19 the UK subsidiary of the professional services consultancy firm PwC, confirmed it was ceasing its auditing services that date back to 2014 of the online Boohoo clothing sales business. The reason behind the decision to quit are reports of bad practices at a Boohoo subcontractor’s factory in Leicester that found safety rules being violated and workers being paid less than the minimum wage. Revealed by The Guardian newspaper publication, these shortcomings, akin to modern slavery, were confirmed in September by an internal investigation proving that the managers had been aware of the situation (c.f. article No.12051). It should be noted that Boohoo is also one of the companies – along with Gap, H&M, Ikea and Nike – to have been asked by a UK parliamentary Committee investigating forced labor of Uyghurs in China to clarify their position. While reputational risk appears to be the reason prompting PwC’s departure, Boohoo has sought to minimize the event and while denying the resignation did confirm that ‘a process has recently commenced to tender for a new provider of audit services.’ Observers also note that consultancy firms are fleeing from scandals. Deloitte recently decided to cease auditing the petrol station giant, EG Group because of governance concerns. In 2019, Grant Thornton also backed down from working with the Sports Direct company because of tax investigations in Belgium. Need more info ? Contact mind's on-demand study service Which service do you want to contact :WritingCommercial serviceTechnical SupportFirst name Last name Organization Function email* Object of the message Your messageEmailThis field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Essentials Les dernières publications Supporting parenthood in the workplace: a win-win strategy Supporting employee carers: a CSR challenge Analyzes Les dernières publications Paternity leave: data observations from 41 countries EU: during H1 2022 five EU Member States have raised their minimum salary levels