A Channel Four news investigation will tonight reveal that conditions for workers at JD Sports Kingsway Business Park facility in Rochdale,have been called ‘worse than prison’ by workers who are ‘exploited’ and ‘treated like scum.’

The programme will claim that employees  are threatened with dismissal for sitting down during 12-hour shifts and that there is a three strike policy for being caught with chocolates or gum.

The building supplies all of JD Sports’s stores in the UK and abroad, as well as its  online business.

The Company is the biggest sporting goods retailer in the U.K. and announced record profits earlier this year.

The investigation revealed rigorous security which sees airport-style checks and random searches and that agency workers employed by Assist Recruitment were effectively paid below minimum wage.

The agency recruits are given “zero hours contracts” with no guarantee of work and are paid the minimum wage of £7.20 per hour. The contracts allow the agency to dismiss them instantly without notice then after 12 weeks of work, the agency then guarantees just 7.5 hours of work per week.

Iain Wright MP, who led the damning inquiry into Sports Direct told the programme makers he was “disgusted” by the findings and said he would like the company to explain itself in front of MPs.

In reply,  JD Sports told Channel 4 News: “our people are never ‘sacked on the spot’. In any cases of serious misconduct, thorough investigations take place. We take the overall treatment and wellbeing of our employees very seriously and we are extremely disappointed to be faced with allegations of line managers behaving in an offensive and bullying manner.”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here