M&S cashiers can refuse to handle pork and alcohol

[HermioneWeasley]

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10532782/Muslim-staff-at-Marks-and-Spencer-can-refuse-to-sell-alcohol-and-pork.html

I would be extremely annoyed at being held up by someone refusing to "handle" alcohol and pork. After all, the stuff is either in bottles or cellophane so it's not coming into direct contact.

Personally, I wouldn't have this policy, but if m&S think it's reasonable to refuse, why not put employees who object in a different part of the store, instead of inconveniencing customers?

And before cries of racism and Islamaphobia start, my family are Muslim (though I am not) and would have no problem with putting bottles and packs through a checkout.

Yes.
I hate waiting if there's no need to.

I wouldn't care at all about waiting a few mins for a supervisor.

I would not however be impressed at having to have my whole load of shopping voided off a til I'd waited 20 mins with two children to reach only to have to have it all voided unpacked out of bags shoved back into basket and then wait another 20-30 mins to be served. I would respect that the person had beliefs to be upheld but is be annoyed that the management had not put a better plan in place and had put the staff member in that position at peak times.

I'd doubt it, Fuzzy. He was around 19. I have no problem if it was a religious belief of his, but I don't go on about the protein benefits of pork to Jewish people or how an occasional wine can actually be good for your health to Muslims. I've been to two Muslim wedding actually and they had no issue with us drinking. They were however pleased that I had covered my legs out of respect to their religion. It's give and take IMO. He had no right to comment even if I had been an alcoholic. He made a comment about my cigs too (but I've quit now.)

I imagine there would be a sign advising you not to use the checkout if you have pork or alcohol . I doubt people choose to become a Muslim in between scanning tins of baked beans.

Oh dear - that's M&S food department off my places to shop from now on.

With their clothes sales declining they really are determined to shoot themselves in the foot.

Glad I sold my shares years ago when Philip Green was sniffing around.

I think I still need to know why wearing gloves isn't acceptable

I suspect that M&S is providing a tiny, tiny percentage of its workforce with a 'get-out' clause in order to prevent expensive (and pointless imo) court challenges.

Let's face it this is going to happen rarely , most stores will place their Islamic staff elsewhere. Would be more problematic in a supermarket than somewhere like M & S.

But it would also need explaining how far it went. Sausages fine but as much as I remember from my veggi years, it's still possible id forget about that fruit jelly I shoved in for the kids. People may well not think about that cheese cake it ice cream etc

Getting people to work out if they actually have pork or alcohol is going to be quite an effort though.

I think "non foodstuffs only" signage would work better.

That would mean that particular till got much less work than the other ones though...!

The thing about a no pork or alcohol sign is that people might not realise that half their trolley is pork (because it's often not obvious) and alcohol laden, or they might have forgotten they'd bought the quiche Lorraine rather than the cheese and chive one they'd been considering. There would be lots of people who get to the front and find that a sizeable proportion of their shopping is refused, and they'll be pissed off because most people see food shopping as a necessary evil and want to get it over and done with as quickly as possible. Having to queue up again to buy some of your shopping would be incredibly annoying, and you'd probably go elsewhere.

Which is why I'd imagine that M&S's actual policy is probably to redeploy people who won't sell pork products to other areas so that they aren't put in the position of annoying customers.

I think other supermarkets have had their share of articles.

A person being id'd for a cheese containing port. A baileys Ice cream etc. Which proves that whilst people are aware of the law or anything, that done products just don't instantly register because it's not in a form that would make you think.

"I think "non foodstuffs only" signage would work better."

It would work extremely well in M&S Simply Food stores

:o ubik

fackin, he just sounds like a tosser a little over-invested in his customers' wellbeing.

Thanks Duchesse, I did boycott then after that as it made so uncomfortable. There were people behind me too, to make it worse. I went to the other (lovely) Asian gent after that who told me I deserved my friday wine as he'd heard how shit a week I'd had when I got my water and paper every day.

Not read the whole thread but i would be interested to know of anybody who experiences having to move their whole shopping load from one till to another due to a muslim refusing to serve. Note: i am not saying that this hasn't happened, i just want to know about their experience.

For those who have to just wait for soneone else to come and scan the pork/alcohol through rather than move the shopping, i am interested to know if they had to wait for longer than the wait, if an under-18 is serving them.

Also, why is the headline about muslims - jews also may have same reservations.

It will pave the way for a whole host of photos of sad faced customers waiting in line at the tills.
Or Muslims with disgusted faces looking at Percy Pigs.

The DM will have a field day.

The headline is about Muslims because (afaik) a customer was asked to wait for another member of staff by a Muslim till operator - but yes, it could just as easily be a Jewish person asking for the same rights. I suspect that all that will happen is that a few customers will have to wait while a supervisor comes and scans through the 'forbidden' items - forbidden in inverted commas there, because the Quran does not specifically say that you can't serve alcohol or pork to customers of the shop you are working in.

I can't imagine this working. It wasn't until I had a friend of the family staying with me who was Jewish (and strict on food) that I had any idea of the amount of foods which contain pork. I couldn't believe how reliant on it I was.

I don't buy supermarket meat anyway as I want to be sure what I buy isn't halal (I have beliefs too you see, and I believe it is unnecessarily cruel). Presumably if I worked at M&S I could refuse to sell anything other than pig? Perhaps I should offer my services as an operator on a pork and booze only till?

Customers would still have to queue up twice though, and I wonder where they'd pay for their meat feast pizzas?

Pixel, how is halal anymore cruel than your non halal abbatoirs?
You are definitely going down the mozlamic route with that comment.

Now that's a whole new thread. Been done a few times over school dinners. As if the cheap shit meat they serve the kids is treated any better.

Believe what you like but don't take a job in an ordinary shop if you are going to have a problem selling their products.

Defuse Halal meat is killed non stunned.

Agree giles. . Helpyourself dont want derail thread, so just a quick note to say that is not strictly true - for halal nor non-halal meat.

Back to the op, just want. Some real life experiences of any MNers who have actually been affected by m&s policy.