Waitrose offers paid role to 'sacked' autistic volunteer Tom Boyd

Waitrose has offered a job to an autistic volunteer who the upmarket retailer controversially let go earlier this year.

Tom Boyd has accepted the offer and will take up the role in the new year.

In October Waitrose found itself at the centre of a PR crisis after it emerged that Boyd, who had notched up more than 600 hours of work experience stocking shelves at Waitrose’s Cheadle Hulme store in Greater Manchester since 2021, was let go after his mother asked for him to be paid for shifts.

At the time Waitrose was heavily criticised by disability rights campaigners and faced questions from employment lawyers over whether it was correct for his work to ever be classed as volunteering.

The story was widely picked up across the local and national media, while rival supermarket Asda also stepped in to offer Boyd two paid five-hour shifts a week at its own store in Cheadle Hulme.

Responding to the criticism Waitrose, said it did hope to “welcome Tom back, in paid employment, and are seeking support from his family… to do so”.

This week a Waitrose spokeswoman said: “We’re delighted that Tom has accepted our offer of paid employment and are looking forward to welcoming him to start in January, as requested by his family.

“We have Tom’s best interests at heart and we’ve worked closely with his family throughout to ensure he gets the support he needs.

“We’re learning from this situation and working with charities and specialists to make sure we can continue to offer fair and rewarding opportunities for people with neurodiversity.”