To think retailers should t charge staff for shop lifters

[Cecillie]

Dd just started a temporary job in a Morrison's local. Training was non existent and it's minimum wage . She has been worried about people using tap and pay and walking off before transaction approved as the system is really slow but there were no systems in place.
Today a guy bought £10 of beer, tapped and power walked off, transaction was declined.
She immediately told her supervisor and was made to pay for the beer on her debit card. So basically an hour and a half pay for her .
Surely this isn't legal ? They can claim it back as lost stock ?
Supervisor said oh that's nothing , someone had to pay £200 once

I am gobsmacked! Tell her to speak to the highest manager straight away. This can't be right!!

Why on earth are people doubting this happened? Its incredibly common for young and low paid staff to be exploited in one way or another by unscrupulous managers. I once lost three days wages as a waitress when huge table who'd been tipping back drinks walked out.

@Cecillie don’t justify yourself. Hope HR get back to you soon.

I am amazed that anyone would disbelieve this. Can we have any thread without people screaming FAKE? I think we need @mumsnet to be more on top of these obvious troll hunters.

OP - this sounds terrible and I would encourage her to mail HR in Morrissons or to tweet about it. It's awful that their brand is being affected by this. It may well be one manager who is trying to preserve his branch's shoplifting rating.

@CrazyCatsAndKittens

The fact it's a Morrisons local is in the first line of the OP.

Why are you fixating on exactly who owns the shop anyway?!

Yeah, I never get why people do this. They fixate on some tiny, irrelevant part of the OP and blow it out of proportion. It's just really bizarre and pointless.

It's just bizarre. And totally agree that just because Morrisons (and McColls) are big brands doesn't mean there isn't shoddy practice at a local level.

Write this story on a Morrison’s review , anonymously

@Cecillie - I don't think your dd should quit right away, she definitely needs to fight this and I think she's lost her power if she isn't an employee any more? Not sure!

Oh and @Majorfluff - I work in a shop. Every one of us (bar one - and he's probably smarter than most of us!) are degree educated and two of us have masters. We all work there because the job suits us and/or our families, often people use it as a stepping stone on to different things. Even if we weren't degree educated or using the job as a stepping stone, that wouldn't make any difference. Retail can be varied and challenging, particularly dealing with twattish members of the public who think they are better than you So essentially what I'm saying here is you can f*ck off with your narrow minded prejudice.

@Cecillie

Thanks Really useful info She is over 18, doing this between graduating uni and starting a masters but very shy, not one to make a fuss. She is off tomorrow and then on holiday for ten days but think she will hand in her notice tomorrow with a letter explaining why and I think I will encourage her to contact head office as this does sound dodgy .

I would publicise the hell out of what they’ve done. Put it all over Twitter on the Morrison’s feed. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I would also contact the newspapers. Let them publicly explain how they treat their staff.

Today a guy bought £10 of beer, tapped and power walked off, transaction was declined

Isn't there a record of the declined transaction so it can be charged to the person in question? Or are these not retained by the system?

Sounds to me that the supervisor needs training or is actually untrustworthy.

@Cecillie how awful - pls let us know what head office says!

this does happen a lot - I paid for something in a local pharmacy the other day only to come home and realise it hadn't gone off my bank account. I went back the next day and they said their systems are often so slow that people walk off before it's gone through (I hadn't done it deliberately, it had beeped so I thought it had gone!).

it's hard when it's your own dcs and their first jobs - dd had a job as a receptionist and was made to count the cash at the end of the day and when it was short, they always blamed her! She also left in the end!

That's disgusting imo!

I would give ACAS a quick ring and find out whether it is actually illegal to do this.

If it is illegal rather than just morally wrong, it gives you more ammunition to deal with the supervisor.

@Whybot

Write this story on a Morrison’s review , anonymously

And Glassdoor when DD leaves.

When I was working in a well known fast food place they made a driver pay for the pizza that he was mugged for (and yes some life scum really did mug him for pizza!), another chain made the staff pay for any losses as well. Its a disgusting practice but its not actually that uncommon in my experience. I'm a waitress at another well known restaurant now and I've been warned that I can be charged for that there too.

I think they expect her to be assertive enough to tell customers to wait until the transaction is complete. A simple 'please wait a moment' will suffice.

Maybe she can get into the habit of saying 'please tap and wait'.

Just an idea.

Morrison's are dreadful but this is not on them, that is not a business policy. There is a grievance immediately and of your dd is on NMW as a new starter then that deduction probably takes her below NMW which is also illegal. I would also vote for direct to store manager, if they aren't all over it then a formal grievance. That is appealing behaviour and if a 'joke' then the prankster frankly deserves to lose their job.

I worked in retail (about 45 years ago!). They told us that part of the mark-up on goods was to cover 'wastage' which included cost of goods stolen. Presumably part of the retail price on anything is for that, so the store is reaping the lost dosh twice as well as taking the money from your dd.

I wouldn't even be shopping there.

Legally they may be able to deduct from wages to cover cash discrepancies, breakages etc (but iirc no more than 10% of gross pay for the day) but they absolutely can’t make her pay on her debit card - if they make deductions it should be via payroll and they should note what the deduction is for on her payslip

That’s shocking on the part of Morrison’s, it sounds like they have some serious management/bullying issues. What a horrible way to treat a young person just starting out in the world of work. I don’t shop there anyway but this will definitely put me off doing so!

Though to be fair on the guy who walked off with the beer, my card often doesn’t work first time even though the machine beeps so I could easily just walk off having thought I’d paid. At least twice in the last week I’ve had to retap my card.

That is a terrible policy, which will simply discourage staff from reporting theft that they witnessed. I would advise her to write to the most senior person in Morrison's explaining what happened and demanding that they change this policy as well as refunding her personally.

All large retailers claim a certain amount back from their insurance companies. They work with them to keep losses down but they can indeed claim back.

I know nothing about retail, but this makes no sense to me. Insurance is for exceptional large losses, with average luck you will pay out more than you claim back. It makes no sense to insure against losses that happen week after week, month after month, year after year, and that do not vary greatly from one time to another. It would result in a worse financial outcome than not insuring at all.

(Maybe if you were a jewellery store with the world's biggest diamond on display, you'd insure that. But what losses from shoplifting would it make sense for a grocery store to insure against?)

I think the supervisor would be blamed for not supervising properly so she took this action. I can't see how that is shop policy.

This is a fairly common practice, especially with garages where people fill up and drive away without paying. Has been for years and I find it astonishing that it seems nobody has taken it to court for a definite decision. Disgusting practice.