Waitrose responds after mum claims her autistic son was ‘dropped’ for asking about pay

An autistic man who spent four years volunteering at Waitrose has been told he can’t come back — after his mother asked if he could start being paid for his work. Tom Boyd, 27, from Stockport, has carried out more than 600 hours of unpaid work at the Waitrose branch in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, since 2021.

Tom, who has very limited speech and needs support while working, started volunteering by emptying stock cages and stacking shelves alongside a support worker who helps keep him safe.

Credit: Instagram/@frances.boyd.18

Over time, he became a familiar face in the store, as a friendly, reliable helper who staff say worked incredibly hard.

For four years, Tom volunteered two days a week, from 9:30am to 2pm. Last year, his mum Frances decided to contact Waitrose about the possibility of giving him a small number of paid hours as recognition for the time and effort he’d put in.

Frances told The Times: “We weren’t after 40 or 30 or 20 hours. We said we’d accept four, three or even two, just something.”

But when Waitrose’s head office found out about the request, they became “alarmed” by how much unpaid work Tom had been doing. Instead of giving him a paid role, they told the family Tom wouldn’t be able to continue working at all until they’d “resolved” the situation.

Frances Boyd, BBC News

That was two months ago — and Tom hasn’t worked a single shift since.

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In a statement to the BBC, Waitrose said: “We work hard to be an inclusive employer. As part of this, we partner with a number of charities, including to provide work experience, and are well experienced in making reasonable adjustments to help people succeed at work.

“We are sorry to hear of Tom’s story, and whilst we cannot comment on individual cases, we are investigating as a priority.”

Frances says the situation has been heartbreaking for her family. Tom loved his time at Waitrose and misses being there, but because of his autism, his mum said she couldn’t explain the real reason he had to stop.

“We told him the shop is being cleaned,” she said. “We just couldn’t upset him by saying he wasn’t allowed to go in.”

Tom’s language is “very limited”, meaning he can’t always communicate easily with customers, but his support workers say he was capable of doing the tasks he was given, and they could have helped him with any interactions if needed.

“He’s been doing it for four years,” Frances said. “So why can’t that continue?”

Frances and Tom’s support workers are now hoping to find him a role in another supermarket, or possibly a cleaning job, as Tom enjoys dusting, vacuuming and making beds.

The Tab has approached Waitrose for further comment.

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Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@frances.boyd.18