Tesco online shopping picker not fast enough

[WordsFailMeYetAgain]

Hoping someone will have advice for my son.

My son is 20 (almost 21) and works at Tesco as an online shopping picker. He is also at university, will be starting his second year in October and this job is so that he has money to support himself through uni.

He has ASD, Dyslexia and is hypermobile. Tesco are aware of this and knew this when he was employed. He has been with them since September last year.

He has just come home from work and told me that he has been called into a meeting tomorrow and is worried that he is going to be let go because he is too slow. Tesco have a pick rate and my son is consistently below this due to his dyslexia primarily but also his hypermobiity which makes it difficult when the trolley is getting full.

He is in the union and I have told him that at the meeting tomorrow, he must point out his disabilities and following the meeting he must seek out his union rep and tell them what has happened.

Does anyone know whether they can legitimately get rid of him because he is slow due to his disabilities?

Keep us updated re the meeting

Have comments been made recently re his pick rate ?

Is that why he thinks the meeting is about that ?

It could be something completely different

On a different note between the pickers with their trollies and the staff with cages stacking shelves it’s a nightmare as a customer these days in these big supermarkets . They are trying to cut money and not paying as many staff at night but it’s becoming harder and harder to actually get around a supermarket and places like B&M they use whole aisles to store cages with stock . They then penalise the staff when customers get in their way. My friend worked at Wilko as a shelf stacker and she said they used to get told they had to help customers if they asked them where a product was and they had to take them to the product not just tell them which aisle … then she was penalised if the shelves weren’t stacked in time … but some days she would have customer after customer asking for help . These big companies want you to have a broom up your bum whilst stacking the shelves .

@PeonyBulb that’s what I wondered (see my comment further up) there’s nothing to indicate from the OP that’s what the meeting is about. I think whenever our employer say they want a meeting, we can often jump to the conclusion it’s for something negative.

They also have rates on the tills for how quickly you scan items - my sister in law works in tescos on the tills and she can't stop to chat to customers. I notice a big difference at M&S where they employ people who are pretty slow at scanning. Of course at Sainsbury's it's like gold dust to find a cashier!!

Just out of interest, what is the pick rate at supermarkets?

As others have said, he is legally entitled to request (not necessarily get) a reasonable adjustment to the pick rate. I think it would be hard for Tesco not to agree to a sensible reduction to the rate such as 20% lower, but obviously not uneconomically low like 2 items an hour. He also has to still be accurate as well, is he able for example to read the labels? Definitely involve the union so he has some support. Definitely raise why there has been no discussions about any adjustments he may need earlier on (if there haven’t been, and as they knew about his disabilities on appointment). Make sure to also highlight any positives = being on time, being a good co worker etc.

Morrisons when I worked there was one of the lowest pick rates of all supermarkets but around 200 items an hour was expected. It is easy enough to do especially doing early mornings with less customers around harder on a late shift if you were expected to deal with click and collect as well.

I would have thought they'd have let him go during his 3 month probation period if that was their intention.

I thought for any sort of disciplinary meeting the company had to send out a letter with the day/time/what the meetings about and saying you could bring someone independently like a union person etc. Is this not the way anymore?

Blimey, at my Tesco the younger ones especially, are always standing chatting with their bloody trolleys in my way!

Agreed, I was at msons and heard the lady say she was on a timer. Doesn't sound a v fun job.

06.00 to 10.30 could be a good time to be on the tills, as there's usually fewer customers at that time.

Alternative role to accommodate his disability would be what I would push for - I assume he has told them about his restrictions ?

He needs to make them aware that he is neurodivergent and ask for a reasonable adjustment to amend the expectations placed on him. He is legally entitled to this and they have to be able to give an explanation as to why this is not possible for the business to give or they are doing unfair dismissal. I would help him maybe write some things down so he can discuss this with his manager, make a diary of the date/time and what is discussed. If he is in the union then get them involved too.
If they are adamant they won't adjust, then they should attempt to offer a more suitable role they can give reasonable adjustments for.

@WordsFailMeYetAgain "He has just come home from work and told me that he has been called into a meeting tomorrow and is worried that he is going to be let go because he is too slow." So your DS doesn't actually know what the purpose of the meeting is then?
If an employer is inviting an employee to a disciplinary meeting they are obliged to tell the employee that that's the purpose before the meeting. Unfortunately, as your DS doesn't have the minimum two years' continuous service to have full employment protection rights, they may indeed be planning on just "letting him go" rather than running the disciplinary procedure. However, protection from discrimination is a day one right so he could have protection from unfair dismissal dependant on the reason they're letting him go (assuming they actually are!).
If they do tell him they are letting him go due to his slow pick rate he should tell them:

• My slower pick rate is due to my disability;
• You knew about my disability when you recruited me;
• I understand that protection from unfair dismissal (disability discrimination) is a day one employment right.

He would, of course, need to have evidence that Tesco knew of his disability when recruiting him. Tesco is required to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate his disability, but what those reasonable adjustments would look like is down to Tesco (unless successfully challenged at an Employment Tribunal). Tesco could call this a "capability dismissal" (employers are permitted to lawfully dismiss employees due to poor performance) in the hope that this wouldn't be tested at ET by your DS bringing a disability discrimination claim - but that would be a decision for him for the future. Depending on what the meeting tomorrow is actually about and how it proceeds, he can contact ACAS afterwards for advice: www.acas.org.uk/contact

Same at my local Asda, they seem to be strolling around , but of course this is just my impression and I am sure I would be useless at it

doesnt sound like a good job for him. Hopefully there will be something else he can do.

Yes it is. If an employer is inviting an employee to a disciplinary meeting they are obliged to tell the employee that that's the purpose before the meeting and advise them of their right to be accompanied at the meeting. Unfortunately, as OP's DS doesn't have the minimum two years' continuous service to have full employment protection rights, Tesco may be planning on just "letting him go" rather than running a formal disciplinary procedure (they still need to follow a fair process though, including paying him PILON, accrued annual leave days, plus bonus and expenses if appropriate).

But if the OP's son has a disability that genuinely affects his performance in this role, then surely he is legally entitled to have "reasonable" adjustments made to his performance targets?

Tesco cannot legally require all pickers to be of the "right" standard if a disability prevents a picker from meeting this "right" standard.

If "reasonable" adjustments cannot be made, Tesco may be required to find an alternative role that the OP's son can cope with.

I used to do the same job and our pick sticks were blue for above average, green for ok, yellow go faster and red for too slow. Of course it was dependent on what shop you were doing and the items in the basket ordered.

There were some people who were always red and they were asked to be quicker but they couldn't. I think as the amount of orders have increased partly due to COVID they are trying to get them to pick quicker so they can not disrupt regular shoppers. We used to love Sundays as it was quiet and we could work without worrying our pick rate would decrease ..

I think as long as he has said at interview he had a difficultly (like me) they told me to try my best and of I couldn't make the agreed standards it didn't matter. As he is in the union ask for a rep to come to the meeting and maybe ask if it can be recorded as then you have a playback so there are no missing parts of the meeting. I think they have to have a few meetings before they decide to let someone go but really they should abide by the equality act and if a reason isn't legitimate I would ask the union to take it further .

Hope he gets on ok

Thanks everyone for your replies. We don’t actually know what the meeting is about. My son has assumed. Unfortunately the manager he is meeting is not a very nice person. It’s not a formal disciplinary meeting. I’ll update you tomorrow. Thanks again

Supermarkets (or any other type of business for that matter) cannot operate above the law. I have no doubt that this happens frequently, in all sorts of circumstances, but employees have rights and disability is a protected status. Of course Tesco won't want to make accomodations, but what they want is neither here nor there. The law is the law. Hopefully OP's son will take a union rep with him and it will all be ironed out.

We moved slow pickers to another department. We didn’t have the leisure to carry people who weren’t performing. We were on a skeleton staff and everyone had to be up to scratch. It’s a fast and physical job. I absolutely loved being a picker tbh and was really fast. One of the most satisfying jobs I have ever had. Unfortunately a 12 hour a week contract is no use to anyone so I went for the team leader role which was shit so I left.

Get him to ask to be moved, does he have a representative to go with him just incase they try and tie him in knots.

In my experience Tesco are very good at hiring and retaining workers with extra support needs. They don’t go running to firing people either. I hope it goes well for him x