A BBC survey shows, Indian workers in factories supplying the supermarket chains Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury's, and the fashion brand Ralph Lauren, are being subjected to exploitative conditions. Women working at a Ralph Lauren supplier reported being forced to stay overnight to complete orders, sometimes requiring them to sleep on factory floor. Similarly, workers at a supermarket supplier are been made to endure conditions which would be unacceptable for staff employed by the same brands in the UK.

The women working at these garment factories all live in poverty in a rural area of South India. According to charity organization Action Aid, forced overtime, verbal abuse and poor working conditions were routine at the factories in question. The three brands are all members of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), and have signed up to its based cod which includes a pledge to ensure working hours are not excessive, overtime is voluntary and that workers are not subject to verbal abuse.

In a statement, Ralph Lauren said it was deeply concerned by the allegations put to the company by the BBC and would investigate. The factory supplying the fashion brand denied the staff members' allegations and said it was compliant with the law.

The three supermarket brands said they were working together to ensure the issues were remedied, in particular on excessive working hours. Sainsbury's said it was insisting on a number of actions the supplier must take in order for us to continue to work with them while Tesco said it plans to prohibit excessive overtime, strengthen grievance procedures and ensure workers were fully compensated at the correct rates for hours they've worked" Marks & Spencer said it plans to undertake regular unannounced audits to ensure its implementation.