“Disgraceful” recruiters in the firing line over Sports Direct pay
A DEAL between HMRC and Sports Direct will reportedly see £1m paid back to staff at its Derbyshire warehouse.
The retailer was hit by scandal last year after working conditions and poor pay were exposed.
Now Mike Ashley, in an uncharacteristic move, is reaching for the cheque book to pay both directly-employed and agency staff employed by The Best Connection, said union Unite.
However it has now emerged that workers employed by Brighouse employment agency Transline may not be getting the full amount owed.
Between them, the recruitment agencies employed 3,000 people at the Shirebrook factory.
For direct employees and agency workers, payments date back to May 2014 and cover unpaid searches at the end of shifts and could be worth up to £1,000 for some workers, said the union.
But 1,700 Transline agency workers may only receive half of the back pay they are owed according to Unite.
It said that Transline is refusing to honour its commitments from when it took over from Blue Arrow at Shirebrook two years ago.
Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: “This is a significant victory in Unite’s ongoing campaign to secure justice and dignity at work for workers at Sports Direct and demonstrates the importance of modern trade unions in Britain today.
“But investors and customers alike should not be fooled into thinking that everything is now rosy at Sports Direct’s Shirebrook warehouse. Transline, one of the employment agencies involved, is disgracefully still trying to short-change workers by seeking to duck its responsibilities.
“Deep seated problems still remain regarding the use of agency workers with the behaviour of both Transline and The Best Connection further jeopardising Sports Direct’s battered reputation.
“Sports Direct needs to make Transline face up to its responsibilities and seriously confront endemic abuses within its employment agencies.”
A Transline spokesperson said: “We are making all payments required, in full compliance with HMRC.”
