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Sports Direct branded a ‘sweatshop’ after Channel 4’s Dispatches – Daily Mail

Sports Direct publicly shames employees for ‘not working hard enough’
Punishes people for spending too long in the toilet or even for falling ill
‘Six strikes’ rule can see staff sacked for too many minor infringements
Unite has dedicated hotline to help workers take action against bosses

Published:
13:44 EST, 29 April 2015

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Updated:
01:05 EST, 30 April 2015

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One of Britain’s biggest sports chains has been branded a ‘sweatshop’ and had its working conditions compared to those of the Victorian era.

Sports Direct publicly shames employees who bosses do not think are working hard enough and punishes people for talking, spending too long in the toilet or even for falling ill, an investigation has revealed.

The shocking rules have been exposed by an episode of Dispatches, broadcast on Monday night on Channel 4.

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Investigation: Workers told Channel 4’s Dispatches that they live in fear of being fired at any moment. A video grab from a secret recording made at the company’s depot in Shirebrook by the Dispatches team is pictured

Headquarters: The Channel 4 Dispatches team went undercover at Sport Direct’s depot in Shirebrook, near Mansfield, last year, where all but 300 of its 5,000 workers are believed to be on zero-hour contracts

It exposes how tannoy announcements, in both English and Polish, name workers who are deemed to be slacking and how a ‘six strikes’ rule is operated where someone can be sacked for committing too many minor infringements.

This list of 36 ‘strikes’ includes talking, spending too long in the toilet, taking time off sick and even failing to have a clipboard and pen on hand at all times.

The conditions are so dire that Unite has set up a dedicated hotline to help workers take action against bosses.

The Dispatches team went undercover at Sport Direct’s depot in Shirebrook, near Mansfield, last year, where all but 300 of its 5,000 workers are believed to be on zero-hour contracts.

Workers told the documentary that they live in fear of being fired at any moment and that security is so tight they are frisked at the end of every shift.

One unnamed employee said: ‘There’s no happy environment – it’s all miserable, they just want you work faster and faster’, while another added: ‘You work under the impression that you can lose your job from day-to-day.’

Tannoy announcements: Sports Direct publicly shames employees who bosses do not think are working hard enough and punishes people for talking. Another grab from a secret recording at Shirebrook is pictured

Store: Sports Direct last year saw sales jump 24 per cent to £2.7billion and pre-tax profits rise to £207million

Sports Direct last year saw sales jump 24 per cent to £2.7billion and pre-tax profits increase to £207million.

It is owned by Mike Ashley, the 22nd richest person in Britain with a fortune of £3.5billion. He also owns Newcastle United and has a sizeable stake in Scottish football club Rangers.

Sports Direct is owned by Mike Ashley, the 22nd richest person in Britain with a £3.5billion fortune

Most of the workers at the depot are recruited through employment agencies Best Connection and Transline, who are reported to make them sign up to the ‘strikes’ policy.

If an employee falls foul of too many of the list of 36 possible infringements they can supposedly be sacked without warning.

One whistleblower said: ‘After your six strikes you’re out the door – even when people go into work thinking they still got a job – they turn them away and saying sorry, you know, you’ve lost your job.’

Sports Direct have claimed it takes 24 strikes for someone to lose their job.

Channel 4’s undercover reporter was told that one woman was fired for having too many sick days, even though she brought in notes from her doctor.

While this was not verified, an internal newsletter circulated among staff last December made it clear: ‘Do not forget, if you take a sick day, you will lose your money, your holiday pay will go down and also you will receive a strike for absence from work.’

A spokesman for Unite told the Mail tonight: ‘We are surprised these practices are still going on, they belong in the Victorian era, not 21st century Britain, especially at a big high street chain.

‘I think people will be shocked to learn that when they order something online or when they go into a shop that it will have been delivered to them by workers working in such shocking conditions where they face the sack if they spend too long going to the toilet, where they face the sack if they are off sick for too long. It has echoes of sweatshops elsewhere around the globe.’

Branding: Mr Ashley owns Newcastle United and has a sizeable stake in Scottish football club Rangers. Manchester United’s Chris Smalling (left) is pictured with Newcastle’s Emmanuel Riviere (right) last month

Bargain basement: Rugby balls and footwear on sale at the store’s branch in Hounslow, south-west London

And Steve Turner, the union’s assistant general secretary, added in the documentary that Sports Direct go to great lengths to keep such practices out of the press, often settling cases out of court.

He said: ‘Sports Direct are very astute at keeping their name out of the press so very often you find yourself settling on the way into the court, and then it becomes very difficult then.

‘It’s inevitably enshrined in a confidentiality clause, with an amount of money that the employee themselves, the worker themselves, sees as being beneficial, enough at least to settle the case.

‘And on that basis we can’t then pursue it through the tribunal, we don’t get a precedent, we don’t get to make a public story.’

On the ‘strikes’ system, a spokesman for Sports Direct said: ‘The system, amongst other things, takes into consideration a worker’s time keeping, attendance, sickness, conduct and performance target levels.

‘Where a worker falls below the required standards, the reasons for this will be discussed (including any mitigation) and support and training will be provided.

‘Where any employee continues to fail to reach these targets, a strike may be issued as a quarter, half or full strike. Any strike or partial strike issued expires after a six month period.

‘The system used at Sports Direct is a points system and a worker can have up to 24 strikes on their record within a six month period before they are released from their assignment.

‘In respect of staff working in our warehouse, Sports Direct provides working conditions in compliance with applicable employment legislation.’