Working for the supermarkets

Tonight, at 9 o’clock on Channel 4, a programme called Dispatches is looking at ‘Low Pay Britain’. In this programme, they will look at Tesco has been recruiting part-time customer assistants. Not just the number you would expect but 97% of new customer assistants are hired on a part time basis. Well, you might think, not much wrong with that, not everyone can commit to a full time job. But there is another reasons Tesco has been doing this.

When an employee earns less than £153 per week the employer does not need to make the 13.1% national insurance contribution. Ultimately, this saves Tesco about £100 million a year. Still, you might not be thinking there is too much wrong with this. After all, people are still getting paid, its better than not working at all. But its not just the tax Tesco are avoiding. In order for these employees to be eligible for state pensions in their later life, they must have 30 years of contributions. As they are not earning enough because they are taken on part time, they lose this. Tesco are not simply avoiding tax now but also jeopardising the lowest paid workers future.

We would be surprised if it was just Tesco using this loophole. Lots of companies at the moment are bound to be doing the same thing. But Tesco is still the largest private employer in the UK with over 310,000 employees. The company has an employee core value which states:

We know that looking after our colleagues in a culture of trust and respect is essential to the success of Tesco. Where colleagues feel recognised and rewarded for the work they do together, where they have the opportunity to get on and where they are supported in their development as they move through their careers in the business — they in turn try their hardest for customers

However, it would appear that this value is not quite as core as we would hope.

The fact that Tesco is not looking after its employees brings up another question. If they are willing to take from the lowest paid in society in order to save money, people who they claim they have a responsibility for, imagine what they are willing to do to the quality of their food in order to save a few pennies!

With over 100 supermarket suppliers expected to go bust this year, pressure is already being applied to jobs, conditions and food quality.

The truth is, it is easy to be brutal in a policy. When you employ 310,000 people, you don’t know them or having any feeling of responsibility towards them. Its simply not possible, whoever you are. So you work with numbers, cutting here and cutting there. Saving money.

When it comes closer to home, there is a change in attitude. The local shop probably only employs a couple of people but the managers will know them. They will feel a natural responsibility to them in a way Tesco will never be able to.

If you shop local, you will not only be getting a higher quality product, you will also be contributing to a higher quality society.

Thanks for reading!

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Originally published at shrinkthesupplychain.com on January 19, 2015.