An autistic volunteer told to stop stacking shelves at Waitrose when his mother asked if he could be paid has found himself at the centre of a supermarket wrangle after he was offered work by rival Asda – before his old employer said it would ‘welcome him back’.
Tom Boyd, 28, had clocked up more than 600 hours of unpaid work at Waitrose in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester since 2021, accompanied by a support worker.
When his mother Frances Boyd asked in July if her son could be offered ‘just a few paid hours’, Waitrose head office told her Mr Boyd’s work experience placement would have to end.
This week Asda offered the volunteer two five-hour paid shifts a week – before Waitrose revealed a change of heart and said it too could provide paid employment.
The offer of two jobs has placed Tom and his family into a quandary over which to accept, though Frances revealed there are mixed feelings over Waitrose’s proposal, which she has described as ‘bittersweet’.
On the one hand, she acknowledges Tom ‘absolutely loved’ his old job and Frances has only praise for the store staff who supported her son while he worked there.
But the distressed mother said she still feels bruised by the way Waitrose’s head office has handled the situation.
By contrast, Asda has offered the family the assurance of flexibility and support for Tom. Based on the company’s national rate, which has increased by 15p since October, Mr Boyd would be paid £12.60 an hour.
Tom Boyd, 28, has found himself at the centre of a supermarket wrangle after he was offered paid work by Asda – before Waitrose said it would ‘welcome him back’
When his mother Frances Boyd (pictured) asked if her son could be offered ‘just a few paid hours’ in July, Waitrose head office told her Mr Boyd’s work experience placement had to end
She told The Times: ‘Asda is saying, ‘We’ll fit around you,’ which is unbelievable.
‘They do seem very inclusive and keen to diversify. They even asked what aisle he would prefer to work in.’
Neither offer has as yet been accepted, with Frances keen to take the time to consider Tom’s options on the table.
Being able to go out and work had given her son a sense of structure and achievement, she explained.
Although his work placement at Waitrose had been unpaid, Tom’s parents had been giving him £3 each morning to save or spend as he liked to help him feel a sense of independence.
She told the BBC: ‘We are going to think about it and decide whether it is in Tom’s best interests to return… and are having further discussions with Waitrose.’
For their part, Waitrose said it was keen to welcome Tom back into their store.
In a statement yesterday, a spokesperson said: ‘As those familiar with Waitrose will know, we care deeply about helping people into the workplace who might otherwise not be given a chance.
Mr Boyd worked at Waitrose’s branch in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester (pictured)
‘As such, we warmly welcomed Tom and his support worker into our Cheadle Hulme branch to gain experience and build his confidence.
‘We have policies in place to support volunteering, and are investigating what’s happened in Tom’s situation.
‘We’d like to welcome Tom back, in paid employment, and are seeking support from his family and the charity to do so. We hope to see him back with us very soon.’
Mr Boyd’s mother has previously blamed ‘head office’ for turning down her request for paid work – after bosses were alarmed by the number of unpaid shifts her son had completed and said he would not be able to work until they had resolved the situation.
She revealed he ‘absolutely loved’ his job, admitting she even lied to him that the store had been closed for cleaning, to avoid telling him he could not go back.
Speaking from her £900,000 detached home on Friday, Mrs Boyd told the Daily Mail she would not be chasing Waitrose for any backdated wages for her son, adding: ‘It’s beyond that. It’s about young people volunteering. Waitrose have apologised and said they are looking into it.’
A Waitrose spokesman previously said work placements, such as Mr Boyd’s, were typically set up in partnership with a charity, in collaboration with the individual and their family.
He said they were investigating Mr Boyd’s case ‘as a priority’.
Speaking about the incident, Mrs Boyd told BBC Breakfast on Thursday: ‘He started at Waitrose because he was on a college placement.
‘It began with one hour a week and it started building up over time as it progressed and got better at it and used to doing it and everything was working.
‘Eventually, when he left college we asked if he could increase that time to two days which it did. We thought this is working out, well why don’t we ask Waitrose if there is the possibility of paid work.’
Explaining his role at the store, the mother added: ‘He was bringing stock down from the stockroom, taking it onto the shop floor, stacking the shelves, tidying the shelves, putting everything in order and making sure everything was fully stocked.
‘He absolutely loved it. He loved that sense of belonging and the structure of going to work and the independence it gave him and feeling like a working man.
‘We’ve told him he was a working man once he started to go out and finish college and he used to say: ‘I’m working like my dad and my brother’.’
Mrs Boyd explained that she and her son were at first given hope that a request for paid work might be accepted.
She said: ‘They didn’t say no which gave us a feeling it was a possibility. There was no ‘no’ immediately, so we thought ‘there’s a chance here’.
‘But at the time they said ‘come back to us, we’ve got perhaps recruitment in January and then we can look at it again’.
‘Time just went by and I think by July of this year it went to head office, because they couldn’t make a decision within the store without taking it to head office. And once head office found out about it, the placement was stopped.’
Once the placement was ended, Mrs Boyd said her son struggled to understand why he could no longer carry on working at Waitrose.
She continued: ‘We had to sort of make a story up and say that the shop was being cleaned temporarily and that he couldn’t go into work until they cleaned it and then he might be going back and we left it at that.’
Following news of the furore, Mr Boyd received support from Greater Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham, who said the 28-year-old had suffered ‘truly terrible’ treatment and vowed to ‘support him to find another placement’.
The mayor added that Greater Manchester Combined Authority ‘would encourage all employers, including Waitrose, to sign up to our brand new Bee Neuroinclusive Code of Practice’.
Frances has accepted the mayor’s offer to become an advocate for the Bee Neuroinclusive campaign.
Daily Mail has reached out to Asda and Waitrose for comment.
