"Brutally poor working environment - Zara doesn't follow laws"
Uppdaterad 2024-04-23 15.49 | Publicerad 2024-04-18
Warehouse spaces with blocked emergency exits and overstressed personnel.
They stand and unpack clothes all day in a small taped area that they are not allowed to leave.
”The working environment was brutally poor at Zara. They didn't follow the labor laws, they didn't follow anything," says a former employee.
200 Seconds investigation into 13 Swedish stores of the clothing company Zara reveals appalling working conditions. 39 current and former employees testify to an inhumane environment:
”In the warehouse, there were so many clothes that we couldn't move. We had to dig out clothes. It felt like we were miners; it was so cramped that I just wanted to run away. We felt like rats," says a former employee who was a local safety representative.
"Blocked emergency exits"
The stress in the warehouse is enormous, according to several:
”It's chaos in the warehouse; people have panic attacks. You see people crying.”
A former security guard at Zara talks about the overcrowded warehouse spaces:
”Zara completely disregards fire safety. It was absolutely impossible to evacuate if a fire broke out. The aisle is very narrow, and there were clothes everywhere. Emergency exits were blocked," he says.
Another former employee recounts their first day at the warehouse:
”I will never forget the shock when I entered the warehouse. I couldn't even believe I was still in Sweden. It was so dirty, those who worked there had blackened faces, there were dust bunnies meters long, and it smelled and irritated the throat.”
”When we went downstairs, the elevator doors opened, and then the manager pointed to a small taped area on the floor and said, 'You shall stand here.' The square is 50x50 centimeters, and you have to stand there for an entire shift and hang clothes on hangers, and remove the plastic.”
”If you wanted to leave the square, you had to contact the manager via walkie-talkie and ask for permission,” she says.
”Tearing the body apart”
Another former employee talks about working on the shop floor:
”There is no structure; you just try to run from one fire to the next.”
”Some days I walked 40,000 steps. The shoes you have are not suitable for how much you walk and stand. They were flat, and we were not allowed to wear sneakers. I got extremely bad posture at Zara, and still have back problems.”
”You stack hangers on your hand, so many that the tendons around the thumb wear out. Many tear their bodies apart early. It is common for employees to have surgery on their hands and feet,” she says.
Several others testify about work-related injuries:
"Our bodies can't take it anymore. There's always someone saying, 'My back hurts so much, I can't move my legs,'" says one employee.
"A colleague injured her back and was bedridden for months but it wasn't recognized as a work-related injury even though doctors had contacted Zara," says a former employee.
Understaffed
The training of newly hired employees is extremely inadequate, according to several sources:
"The training was very poor, it was just expected that you knew everything. As soon as you made a mistake, you got yelled at. You were very humiliated," says a former employee.
The staff is constantly understaffed, leading to chaotic situations at times:
"During sales, clothes would be scattered on the floor. You lose control, and sales staff start crying. When the queue stretched from the counter all the way out of the store, an employee panicked," recounts a former employee.
"During the sale, I was completely sweaty by the end of the day. Because you ran so much back and forth," says Michaela Berg, 34, a former employee at Zara.
* This text has been translated with support of ChatGPT and reviewed by Aftonbladet.
