‘Reap what you sow’

An HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation into infamous employer Sports Direct for not paying its 3000 warehouse staff the national minimum wage is understood to have been widened to include the retail giant’s 13,000 shop workers.

The Guardian newspaper revealed that HRMC investigators are looking into whether Sports Direct retail staff have been scammed, after billionaire owner Mike Ashley was forced to admit warehouse employees at the group’s headquarters in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, were paid less than the legal minimum during a parliamentary inquiry in June.

Sports Direct’s dodgy warehouse practises were exposed after an undercover investigation in December by the Guardian and a sustained public awareness campaign by Unite, which Ashley refuses to recognise.

The company potentially saved millions of pounds by docking workers 15 minutes pay if they were a minute late, not paying them for working late and forcing employees to wait unpaid in long queues to be searched at the beginning and end of every shift.

The measures meant many employees were effectively working at an hourly rate of £6.50 – 20p below the then legal rate of £6.70.

A Sports Direct shop worker, who did not wish to be identified, told the Guardian he had reported the firm to HMRC for not paying the minimum wage after experiencing similar practices in-store.

“There have been times when they tell us to clock out and then we have to work for an hour or two without pay,” he said. “You do tasks like cleaning the floor, cleaning the toilet and kitchen and then lastly the security check, but we have already clocked out so we were not getting paid. This happened not only one time but multiple times.”

‘Welcome move’

A HMRC spokesperson declined to comment on the investigation but did confirm that HMRC looks at “every complaint made by a worker through the Acas helpline.”

Since Sport Direct’s pay policies were exposed last year the company has fallen out of the FTSE 100 and has seen pre-tax profits at its sportswear stores drop by 8.4 per cent.

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said the company’s bosses have reaped what they’ve sown.

“Sports Direct now serves as a continuing reminder to bad bosses everywhere that mistreating workers does catch up on you and will cost you dear in the end,” he said.

“This is a very welcome move by the HMRC.  Sadly our experience is that the abuse of workers is never isolated to one part of a company but is part of a wider culture.

“We urge workers who believe that they have not been fairly paid to step forward, and speak to Unite if you are at all concerned.”