Waitrose has been criticised by the mother of a severely autistic man who volunteered at the supermarket for four years, only to have work cut off when she asked if he could be paid.
Charity worker Frances Boyd from Stockport said her 27-year-old son Tom Boyd had done over 600 hours of work experience at a store Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, when she asked “if there was any chance he could be offered just a few paid hours”.
“We were shocked by how dismissive and cold the response was,” she wrote on Facebook. “The manager said, ‘we can’t just let him do his thing,’ when that’s exactly what he’s been doing successfully for years.
“Waitrose made no effort to make any reasonable adjustments for him – even though the Equality Act 2010 clearly states that employers must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people and that it’s unlawful to treat someone unfavourably because of their disability.
“They told us he couldn’t be offered a job because he couldn’t ‘do the full role’ – yet we know for a fact there are people in the same store being paid, and they aren’t able to do every part of the job either. How is that fair? How is that not discrimination?
“After everything he’s done, there was no apology, no thanks, and no recognition for his commitment. Just silence.”
She said her son had previously spent “every week, for two full mornings” working “so hard – emptying four or more cages of stock, stacking shelves, and helping wherever he could”.
“He loved it there. The shop staff were absolutely amazing with him and made him feel part of the team. Many of them would say things like, ‘you work harder than some people who are paid to work here’.”
She told The Times the store had contacted Waitrose head office, where “alarm bells rang” over the amount of unpaid work her son had done and it was decided he would not be able to work until the situation had been resolved.
More than two months had passed since his last shift, and she had been forced to lie about the reason.
“We told him the shop is being cleaned.
“We weren’t after 40 or 30 or 20 hours. We said we’d accept four, three or even two – just something.
“He does miss it. He did enjoy it and enjoyed going there. His language is very limited and he couldn’t communicate with customers but he had support staff there who could have done so on his behalf. He’s been doing it for four years, so why can’t that continue?”
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “We work hard to be an inclusive employer. As part of this we partner with a number of charities, including to provide work experience, and are well experienced in making reasonable adjustments to help people succeed at work.
“We are sorry to hear of Tom’s story and, while we cannot comment on individual cases, are investigating as a priority.”
Jo Martin, employment lawyer at Bellevue Law, said “I’m concerned that work that has evidently been of real value to Waitrose has been accepted from this individual for many years, without him being paid.
“From what I can see, his mother is right to question the fact he hasn’t been paid, as this isn’t work experience in any true sense (this requires the person to be genuinely ‘work shadowing’, for the employer to avoid incurring the duty to pay at least the minimum wage).
“I also can’t see how this would qualify as genuine volunteering, as the work isn’t voluntary in nature, and Waitrose is not a charity.
“My experience representing individuals with autism overcome problems in the workplace has shown that they tend to find the advocacy of a parent or well-known person essential when discussing terms and conditions with their employer and appreciate structure and known patterns.
“I can see that Tom would have needed his mother’s support and input in this situation, as autistic people tend not to be rule-breakers or want confrontation, and as such I imagine Tom wouldn’t have felt able to advocate for himself.
“I hope Waitrose looks again at this matter, and takes Tom and his mother’s perspectives, plus the applicable employment law, into account as quickly as possible, so that this valuable working relationship can be preserved.”
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