Sainsbury’s staff “livid” after being told they have to work on Boxing Day, despite being promised the day off as a thank you.
In September, the Big 4 grocer announced it will keep all its stores shut this Boxing Day.
It said it will keep all of its supermarket, convenience stores and petrol filling stations shut as a “thank you” to its roughly 170,000 colleagues.
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However, one man, who remains anonymous told The Mirror, his family had planned to go away and visit relatives, but now have to return early as his wife who stacks shelves at a Sainsbury’s store Newton Abbot, Devon has to work.
“Some people have arranged to travel away from home to see family and now they have to come back early,” he said.
“People are livid. When they made the announcement they said it was a thank you to ‘all colleagues’. It’s terrible after last Christmas when lots of people didn’t get to see their families – and now it’s happening again. The staff went to work all through Covid when it was really hard and this is how they are being thanked. It’s just not fair.”
A spokesman for Sainsbury’s told DevonLive today: “The vast majority of colleagues will not need to work.
“There will be some shifts in logistics and our stores which will continue as normal so that we can make sure we’re well stocked for our customers when we reopen on the 27th but everyone who supports these shifts will receive an increased rate of pay.”
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