Sports Direct has said it will offer casual retail staff guaranteed hours instead of zero-hours contracts and has apologised for conditions at its warehouse, including the “six strikes” policy that put workers in fear of losing their jobs.
But Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer has not offered guaranteed hours to more than 4,000 agency workers at its warehouse in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, where working conditions have been compared with those of a Victorian workhouse.
A review commissioned by Sports Direct said “serious shortcomings [were] identified in working practices in [the] warehouse which the board deeply regrets and apologises for”.
The review was initiated after the Guardian exposed how temporary workers at its depots were effectively receiving hourly rates of pay below the national minimum wage. The company has since increased pay to ensure workers are paid at least the minimum.
The Guardian’s investigation uncovered the “six strikes” policy that threatened Shirebrook workers with the sack if they accrued black marks for behaviour such as excessive chatting and long toilet breaks. The board has asked agencies to suspend the policy which it said was “potentially oppressive” and gave too much power to a few managers.
The report, by the law firm RPC, said Sports Direct commissioned the review partly in response to the Guardian’s stories.
Other pledges in the report included:
- Employing a full-time nurse and welfare officer at Shirebrook after unions found there were a large number of ambulance call-outs to the site
- A confidential system for reporting sexual harassment following claims that female staff were intimidated at Shirebrook
- Fewer searches of warehouse staff and a reduction in the number of brands staff are banned from wearing, from more than 800 to 30
The report said Sports Direct’s chief executive, Dave Forsey, did not tell the board or Mike Ashley, the retailer’s founder, about the potential for Sports Direct to pay below the national minimum wage. Forsey gave up a bonus worth almost £4m in June because of the scandal.
It said Ashley, who was questioned by MPs over conditions at the warehouse, “takes ultimate responsibility for any aspects of the working practices that were unsatisfactory”. The business, innovation and skills committee said working conditions at Shirebrook resembled a Victorian workhouse.
Iain Wright, the chair of the committee, said the commitments made by the company showed it was going in the right direction but he noted that warehouse staff would stay on contracts that were effectively zero hours. Sports Direct said it was considering experimenting with moving 10 agency staff a month to permanent jobs.
— Iain Wright (@IainWrightMP)
September 6, 2016Positive steps from Sports Direct review: end of zero hours for shops (not warehouse) and possible end to 6 strikes pic.twitter.com/HLWxYipMg8
Ashley, who also owns Newcastle United football club, has faced increasing pressure from shareholder groups in the run up to Wednesday’s annual general meeting, with calls to overhaul the board of directors and launch an immediate independent review into working conditions at its factories.
Sports Direct said RPC’s report was based on the last three months and that it would now carry out a further review for next year’s AGM. It will include a review of the company’s governance. Many independent shareholders are expected to vote against the reappointment of the chair, Keith Hellawell, and other non-executive directors at the meeting.
