Autistic volunteer is ‘sacked’ from Waitrose after his family asked if he could start being paid after years of stocking shelves for free

A severely autistic man who did more than 600 hours of volunteer work at Waitrose over four years lost his job after his mother demanded he be paid.

Tom Boyd, 27, started helping out at the branch in Cheadle Hulme, Manchester, in 2021, emptying stock cages and stacking shelves with a support worker to keep him safe.

He was soon working from 9.30am to 2pm, two days a week, and was well-liked by the staff; Some even said he worked harder than the people who were paid to work there.

Some were telling the 27-year-old, ‘you work harder than some of the people who get paid to work here.’

Last year, Tom’s mother Frances, a charity worker from Stockport, and support workers approached Waitrose asking for a small number of paid hours to benefit his development and in ‘recognition of the time, effort and heart’ he had put in over these four years.

But the store forwarded the request to Waitrose head office, who were alarmed by the amount of unpaid work Tom was doing and said he could not work until they resolved the situation.

Tom has now been unable to work any shifts for two months and his mother has had to lie to him about the situation to avoid upsetting him.

We told him the shop was being cleaned. We weren’t after 40, 30 or 20 hours. We said we would accept four, three, or even two; “just one thing” he said Times.

Frances said her son missed helping out at Waitrose and enjoyed going there.

He has a ‘very limited’ language which leaves him unable to communicate with customers, although support staff would be able to assist him with this if necessary.

His mother said: ‘He’s been doing this for four years, so why shouldn’t he continue?’

She said Tom’s support workers met Waitrose staff in the store and they told them it would not be possible for him to become a paid employee.

The ‘heartbroken’ mother ruled out taking any legal action and instead said the ‘ideal situation’ would be for Tom to be able to work for Waitrose ‘somewhat’.

He emphasized how ‘fantastic’ the staff had been on the production floor and explained that it ‘did not reflect’ how HQ had behaved since then, adding that those who did not see him as an ‘individual’ were ‘cold, hard, big corporate company’.

Frances and Tom’s support workers now want him to work at another supermarket instead.

Alternatively, they are considering a cleaning job for her as she enjoys dusting, sweeping and making beds.

Frances wrote on social media: ‘They told us he couldn’t be offered the job because he ‘couldn’t do the full role’ – but we know there are people on salary in the same store and they can’t do every part of the job either.

‘How is this fair?’

The furious mother continued: ‘After everything he had done, there was no apology, no thanks, no recognition of his dedication. Just silence.”

Waitrose said: ‘We work hard to be an inclusive employer. As part of this, we partner with a range of charities, including providing work experience, and we are highly experienced in making reasonable adjustments to help people succeed at work.

‘We are sorry to hear about Tom’s story and although we cannot comment on individual cases we are investigating as a priority.’

The Daily Mail has approached Waitrose for further comment.