Charges are almost entirely in rags when labouring (8)
I believe the answer is:
arraigns
'charges' is the definition.
(arraign means to charge with a crime)
'are almost entirely in rags when labouring' is the wordplay.
'almost entirely' means to remove the last letter.
'when labouring' is an anagram indicator (letters worked or laboured into a new form).
'are' with its last letter taken away is 'ar'.
'in'+'rags'='inrags'
'inrags' is an anagram of 'raigns'.
'ar'+'raigns'='ARRAIGNS'
(Other definitions for arraigns that I've seen before include "Accuses, indicts" , "Calls to court to answer an indictment" , "Accuses, finds fault with -often in court" .)