British Newspaper Conducts Undercover Investigation

BUSINESSMAN Mike Ashley, owner of the Frasers Group, Sports Direct and Newcastle United is rarely out of the news and this time it is suggested that his company is paying workers at its warehouse less than the minimum wage.

Five years ago, The Guardian newspaper undertook an undercover investigation into the warehouse in Shirebrook Mansfield which it is suggested prompted the company to review its working practices and workers did receive an element of back pay.

Now the newspaper has sent in another undercover team and whilst acknowledging that things have got better there is an allegation that workers there may once again not be paid the legal minimum wage.

In what is possibly a tenuous observation, The Guardian reporter has suggested that because the staff are not paid for their 30-minute breaks during the day and allegedly are not allowed out of the warehouse during those breaks, it could be that they should receive additional payment.

A Frasers Group spokesman told The Guardian that its warehouse workers did not have to be paid for the breaks and that the business had “no rule preventing staff leaving the warehouse during a rest break.”

It also acknowledged The Guardian article in a statement to the Stock Exchange saying “We of course take any comments about our workplace conditions very seriously and will investigate them as appropriate, in line with all applicable laws and regulations.”