Sports Direct under spotlight again in wages investigation

Sports Direct, the retail chain controlled by Mike Ashley, is under the spotlight again over allegations the company could be paying workers less than the minimum wage following an undercover investigation at its Shirebrook warehouse.

The latest probe from The Guardian comes almost five years after it first exposed how the retailer was breaching minimum wage law, which resulted in workers receiving around £1m in back pay and Ashley forced to appear in front of a parliamentary select committee.

The backlash prompted Sports Direct to review its working practices and pledge to implement a string of improvements in 2016.

In the latest investigation, the Guardian said it placed an undercover reporter inside the same Shirebrook, Derbyshire, warehouse during two weeks in late June and early July, where an estimated 3,000-4,000 workers distribute goods for Frasers Group, the holding company that also includes retailers such as Flannels, Jack Wills and USC.

The reporter recorded how warehouse staff at the group were unable to leave the warehouse during their 30-minute unpaid breaks – a practice some employment law experts say should count as paid working time and, if correct, would push Shirebrook’s effective hourly wage rates below the legal minimum of £8.72 to about £8.20.

While the improvements have addressed many of the issues raised five years ago, other problems appear to remain or have re-emerged, the newspaper said.

Frasers Group said: “The whole basis for [the Guardian’s] purported investigation is founded on a false premise – that a daily 30-minute rest break should be regarded as constituting working time and so paid. This is clearly not the case.”

The law says workers are entitled to spend rest breaks away from their workstation if they have one, and breaks do not generally count as working time and therefore do not have to be paid under national minimum wage law.

But legal experts say that is only the case if a worker is able to spend the break how he or she wishes.

Frasers Group said 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”.

In a statement to the stock market, Frasers Group said: “Frasers Group plc notes the Guardian articles of today, 23 July 2020.

“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. We should add that we consider on advice that it is extremely unlikely that anyone employed by us has been underpaid because of the treatment of unpaid rest breaks.

“We welcome the Guardian’s acknowledgment regarding the improvements made in the warehouse.”