By Lucy Caulkett
Sports Direct are under investigation for paying wages below the legal minimum wage, it has surfaced today.
The company is also accused of discriminating against workers who refused to agree to sexual favours in exchange for a permanent contract. The investigation is holding Sports Direct’s founder, Mike Ashley, accountable for the failings.
Evidence submitted suggests that Sports Direct’s working practices were akin to that of Victorian practices, MP’s have stated.
The allegations are serious, and highlight the extent of bullying that goes on in many companies and workplaces. The case of Sports Direct is just one in a long list of many examples that do not come to the limelight. The company was unduly stringent and unsympathetic even to pregnant women, the investigation has shown. Union officials cited a case in which an employee had given birth in a toilet at the company’s warehouse base in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, out of fear she would be fired if she did not turn up for work. This is absolutely disgraceful and calls for the need of an urgent overhaul of the bullish company.
The company’s founder, Mike Ashley, told Mp’s that Sports Direct has the policy to treat people ”with dignity and respect”. However, the company has done anything but that. Denying staff permanent contracts unless they give sexual favours is alarmingly shocking and shows the extent of victimisation pursued by unscrupulous bosses too stupid to contemplate the possibility of complaints, and the sort of investigation currently taking place. Mr Ashley’s claim to have had no knowledge of any of this is unconvincing to the minds of most reasonable people. It defies common sense to think that it would not have come to his attention since internal complaints would have first been made before they became public.
Ian Wright, chairman of the committee
Committee chairman, Ian Wright, said that Sports Direct’s practices ” are closer to that of a Victorian workshop than that of a modern respectable High Street Retailer”. These are damning words that reflect the high level of irresponsibility that has long dogged what should otherwise be a respectable organisation. Mr Wright told Mp’s that ”it seems incredible that Mr.Ashley, who visits the warehouse at least once a week, was unaware of these appalling practices. This suggests Mr.Wright was turning a blind eye to conditions at Sports Direct in the intent of maximising profits .
Accounts of maltreatment include women being forced to talk about their menstrual period to explain why they were off work. Some workers were also forced to work extra three hours without pay, with many working on zero contract hour. Further, workers, who worked less than 55 hours a week were deemed not to be trying enough, with strong criticisms of targeted staff circulated in emails to other members of staff. The full scale of the bullying, cheating, and maltreatment is truly shocking. It borders on a criminal offence. Heads really should be rolling on this one, and why not start with the founder, Mike Ashley, whose leadership has turned out to be shamefully poor. An example should be made of this monstrous organisation who obviously never imagined that one day they would be held to account for their intolerable practices.
Sports Direct was established in 1982 by Mike Ashley and has nearly 700 stores worldwide.
featured image by- By Betty Longbottom.
