Retail giant Matalan has announced it will furlough workers on a voluntary basis after fears were raised about social distancing rules not being followed.
Staff at the firm's Merseyside warehouse said they were in a "state of panic" about coming to work during the coronavirus lockdown, with pictures emerging of employees crammed into a corridor at the Kirby site.
A letter to staff on Monday said the firm would now furlough workers under the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, as
The company has now said anyone volunteering to be furloughed will receive 80% of their salary through the government scheme and will not be required to report for work.
Shaun Buckley, regional organiser for the GMB union, described the move as a “massive win for safety and common sense”.
He said: “We were inundated with messages from worried GMB members in a state of panic that Matalan bosses are putting workers and their families’ lives at risk.
“But after sustained pressure from GMB, Matalan workers and local politicians the company has caved and is now doing the right thing.”
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Matalan has been under pressure to take action since showing crowds gathering inside the distribution centre.
The company described the pictures as “concerning”, while staff accused Matalan of “putting people at risk for a little bit of profit”.
Two days later, leader Graham Morgan said the local authority to protect its staff.
Environmental health officers inspected the site on Friday and officials from the GMB union met managers yesterday to express their concerns, resulting in the decision to furlough staff.
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In its letter to workers, Matalan said the distribution centre would remain open to deal with online orders until advised otherwise and staff could decide to either keep working at full pay or be furloughed.
A spokesperson for Matalan said: " Over the past few days, we are pleased to have received approval from both the Environmental Health Officer (the EHO) and a representative of the GMB, who have both visited our Knowsley DC and have both deemed the site safe to work. Furthermore, since these visits we shut down our warehouse for 3 days to undertake a deeper clean of the site.
"We are taking our responsibility as a large North West employer to look after our staff extremely seriously. We are therefore now going one step further and all our colleagues are being offered the option to stay at home and be placed in furlough from the 30th March for the time being. This will ensure that those who choose not to come to work, have access to government support packages where available.
"We will continue to operate online with continued strict health and safety regimes in place. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 we have closely followed the Government guidance and WHO and have operated our warehouses with a number of precautions in place to enhance everyone’s ability to operate safely. We have continuously increased these measures further as official advice has developed and will continue to do so."