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?

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.

There was a thread about this a little while ago, and how many adjustments were reasonable and when it was ok for employers to say the job cant be adjusted.

Unfortunately the statement above is simply not true. Employers dont have to make endless adjustments to ensure a person can do whatever job they want - there are some jobs that simply cannot be adjusted or adjusted enough.

If the supermarket needs a certain pick rate, and has a strong case for why, and he cant meet it, it may be that he simply cannot do this job. Hopefully they will have something else he can do. But this idea that endless adjustments should be given is simply not true.

It could just be an appraisal.

Make sure the union rep is there in the meeting.

You usually have to do some preparation for an appraisal meeting (e.g. thinking about your achievements and challenges, identifying any training requirements, etc.) so I'd be surprised if they didn't tell him in advance that this was the purpose of the meeting.

It won’t be a formal disciplinary meeting as that’s something the employee needs to be ‘invited’ to in writing to give them an opportunity to prepare evidence / invite a companion. At the very most it can be an ‘investigation’. Keep us posted OP, I don’t think he’s got to worry unnecessarily.

@AngelicKaty thank you, I had forgotten about the new 2 year legislation.

@WordsFailMeYetAgain I hope everything goes well for you son tomorrow.

It's always a good idea to have an advocate with you in the meeting. DH never goes to a meeting with his management without a union rep as he prefers a witness to what is discussed then they discuss it themselves together afterwards as to what next steps should be etc.

@TheEndlessNight It's actually not that new and has been law since 2012 (time flies!). Prior to that the qualifying period for full unfair dismissal protection rights was only one year - ruddy Tories! 🙄 On the upside, Labour's new Employment Rights Bill, set to become law in April next year, will remove this qualifying period altogether and all employees will have full employment rights from day one - yay! 😃

Having worked as a teamleader at a different supermarket for the delivery section, most supermarkets don't even make a profit on deliverys or very minimal so the pick rate is there to ensure they break even on a delivery shop, not what you want to hear in this situation but it is the reality and is why some of the smaller supermarket chains are struggling while lidl and aldi are doing so well not offering home delivery. i know tesco’s pick rate was much faster than the supermarket I worked at, so there may be leeway to accommodate.

If it was a disciplinary, he would know ahead of time, it could be an investigation in which case he wont be entitled to someone to be in with him but encourage him to ensure there is a notetaker there and he gets a copy of the notes so that he can show you/ union rep/ have time to process if its needed. It could also just be a yearly appraisal.

If it's any kind of formal meeting he would have had a letter giving him at least 24 hours notice and explaining what the meeting is about and that he's entitled to take a union rep or colleague with him. This is true for an investigation into a possible misconduct or for a formal performance meeting. Far more likely that it's an informal performance plan where his current pick rate will be discussed and some short term objectives or adjustments will be made to try and get him to meet the required standard, either by reducing the required standard for him by making reasonable adjustments or giving him more training on things that may help him meet the standard. Tesco will not just dismiss for failing to meet a performance standard without following all due process (tesco manager here!). They may also ask him for his permission to consult with occupational health over measures that will help him.

It’s likely to be a ‘Let’s talk’ which is an informal chat. He could ask for support to raise his pick rate if that is the issue, this would usually mean buddying him up with someone. It is a very fast paced job, the store will have targets to meet.

I would suspect that manned checkouts aren’t open at 6am but he could possibly support with filling (shelf stacking). That said, store budgets are very tight and unless a department is under hours then they won’t be likely to transfer him into another role.

Yes they can but there is a procedure to be followed. Because he is disabled he has employment rights from day one - disability is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, and if Tesco were aware of his disability when they took him on they will also be aware of their responsibilities under the Act. Have they made any reasonable adjustment so far ? If so has he had any feedback on how it’s working ? If he hasn’t had reasonable adjustment he needs to remind them of his disability at the meeting and ask for whatever he needs to be able to do the job to their satisfaction.

The problem you have is that if he’s not performing to their standard and they can find a way not to link that to his disability then there’s nothing you can do. Protected characteristics only come into play if the reason he’s under performing is down to disability. I would recommend that he take someone to the meeting with him to be a witness to the proceedings and to take notes. Posters are saying he’s not entitled to union representation - I would argue that he is, and that in the event no union rep is available then a work colleague or similar needs to be with him so there’s a record of the proceedings.

He has protections under the Equality Act from day one of his employment due to his disabilities and they are required to consider reasonable adjustments. This could include adjusting his pick rate as other posters have suggested or, in an organisation the size of Tesco, finding him a suitable alternative role. Definitely arrange for TU to attend the meeting with him. Ask to rearrange for when they are available if necessary. Good luck.

It depends on what can be considered reasonable - including things like cost, practical concerns and the resources available. Tesco were aware that he had a disability when they hired him so they will be aware of their responsibility under the Equality Act - given that they have to make every effort be proactive in identifying and removing any barriers to the employee’s ability to carry out the job effectively, rather than just observing the decline of his performance and then sacking him.

Failure to do this would be considered disability discrimination, so it’s really not as simple as him not being able to do the job because of his disability. The employer has to be seen to be actively engaged in support, so if they have taken him on and trained him, the expectation would be that they would monitor and intervene as early as possible to find a solution if it was clear he wasn’t coping. Employment tribunals have a high bar and employers need to demonstrate that they have been fair, reasonable and proactive in finding solutions.

The problem is that if they can find a reason to let him go for performance issues not disability related that’s an easy option. Protected characteristic are only valid where disability is the reason for performance issues and the need for adjustment.

I work for Tesco and given what you say it sounds like a let’s talk rather than an investigation. A let’s talk is basically a documented conversation on his work, tell him he MUST raise his disabilities in this conversation and also put in a request to move departments. Unfortunately dot com is fast paced and they do have targets to hit and they are monitored but given his difficulties they would have to make a reasonable adjustment for him and that could be lower targets or a complete change in department. Personally I’d push for the change in department but if he ends up on grocery, produce or any filling role he’ll still be expected to work at a certain pace. Checkouts would be ideal but because of the hours I doubt he’d get 6-10 but you never know. I can’t see them moving him onto PI which is basically labels if he has trouble with his dyslexia, I don’t mean to offend but labels have to be correct for legal reasons and I think this could stress him out. Definitely push for checkouts but be prepared for a change in hours, they’ll probably accommodate his uni studies but I cannot stress enough that he has to tell them all of his disabilities because he has rights and the manager will know this. If he feels nervous he can take someone with him, this could be a rep or any colleague he’s comfortable with. Tell him don’t worry and please update us how he gets off.

He might fare better with stock work if he’s struggling

I’m sure it would be discrimination if they let him go purely due to what is his disability stopping him to the job faster. They need to move him to a more suitable role. My daughter is dyslexic and I’d be really cross if someone treated her like that, I’m sure your son is doing his best! Hopefully they’ll just move him within the company.

Thank you all so much for your repllies. They are much appreciated.

So my son went into the meeting this morning. He had found his Union Rep before the meeting so they attended with him. Turns out that the meeting was a 2 in 1.

Firstly he is up on disciplinary. He booked holiday as we had a big family party last weekend. He assumed it had been approved but didn't check. It had been rejected so last weekend, they were expecting him in and he was a no show. He has apologised and they are now deciding which warning to give him and whether it will stay on his record for 3, 6 or 12 months. He will not be sacked for this as it was his first misdemeanor.

The second part of the meeting was a performance review regarding his pick rate. He explained to them about his disabilities but he felt that all in the meeting, manager, note taker and union rep, didn't take them seriously. Now that could be his ASD coming out, I wasn't there so have no real idea. Anyway, it has been agreed that he can take chilled trollies for his first two picks of the day as they are a much smaller floor area - 6 or 7 aisles rather than 30 aisles for ambient (which includes all the rest of the store except frozen). He has two weeks to get his pick rate up. The target is 180 items per hour and his rate this morning was 164 so he's not that far off.

We will have to see how he gets on with this but hopefully he can get a high pick rate with the chilled aisles so that when he has to move to ambient, he will have a buffer. The pick rate applies to the whole shift not each individual trolley.

I will update in a couple of weeks when he has had his follow up meeting for the performance review.

Thanks again, everyone!x

Definitely did right thing getting a Union Rep in to witness what was said at the meeting. This is an absolute must. Well done your DS. And hopefully he will do his best with pick rate with loads of practice. The holiday thing was a mistake and as it's only happened once it's great he has been given another chance. We are only human! Wishing him loads of luck.

@WordsFailMeYetAgain OP you need to tell your son to request a formal accommodations meeting.
https://www.acas.org.uk/reasonable-adjustments/asking-for-reasonable-adjustments

having a few weeks to pick up his performance on a frozen section isn’t enough here IMO. He needs to arrange this more formally.

Firstly he is up on disciplinary. He booked holiday as we had a big family party last weekend. He assumed it had been approved but didn't check. It had been rejected so last weekend, they were expecting him in and he was a no show. He has apologised and they are now deciding which warning to give him and whether it will stay on his record for 3, 6 or 12 months. He will not be sacked for this as it was his first misdemeanor.

I’d be challenging any warning given. He wasn’t notified that the meeting was a formal disciplinary, which is outside usual procedures where you would be given notice and told of your right to be accompanied. It was purely by chance he had his union rep there.

I’d also be asking for a formal record of reasonable adjustments made to accommodate his disability.

What area is this? I'm pretty sure the policies are the same all over the country but that's absolutely not true here in Wales, as a checkout manager I can confirm we don't have a scan rate at all, its actually the opposite with chatting as we are pushing for a great checkout experience and want customers to feel welcome

Did they say he is having a disciplinary or an investigation about the holiday thing? They may have been making him aware an investigation was going to happen, if they said disciplinary then that would imply the meeting he had was the investigation and they should have followed these steps... He should have been Invited by letter, either hand delivered or posted signed for, with over 24h notice, documenting what the meeting was regarding,where, when, who was holding it, who's note taking, making him aware he can bring representation. If the process isn't followed (or wasn't already if he thinks he has a disciplinary coming not the investigation) it can be thrown out by any reasonable union rep

OP from what you’re saying they’ve given him a smaller area to work for the first couple of picks and have put a time limit on him improving to the same level as everyone else.

You said he has hyper mobility - does he experience pain and fatigue as a result of that? Because if so dot com may not be suitable long term, and combined with his ASD it will not only be tiring but also very stressful because of the expected work rate. Is that likely to make his overall health worse ?

The purpose of reasonable adjustment is to eliminate or minimise the effects of disability and It should be specifically tailored to the individual needs of the disabled person. If he feels that they didn’t pay much attention in the meeting when he mentioned his disability, and he hasn’t had the opportunity to tell them what he needs then they haven’t met the definition of reasonable adjustment - basically all they’ve they’ve done is the minimum necessary to get him up to speed and they’ve time limited it based on their operational needs.

Basically it’s all about what can be considered reasonable in the adjustments they make but ultimately If the role he’s in proves unsuitable and reasonable adjustment doesn’t solve the problem, then they also have a duty to consider whether any other more suitable roles exist for him within the company and if they do, to provide any training and support necessary for an alternative role

Sacking him should be the last resort. A large concern like Tesco should be aware of their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, including something called a Capability Procedure, which is a structured process with defined steps, including meetings, performance improvement plans, and reviews. The aim is to provide support and resources for improvement rather than the standard disciplinary procedure. Capability Procedures are appropriate when performance is affected by illness, or disability, or when reasonable adjustments have failed to enable the employee to meet required standards.

An initial meeting with the employer takes place to try to identify the reasons for performance issues, during which the employee is given the opportunity to talk about any issues caused by disability and what might be needed to resolve them. A Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) should then follow which will include specific goals, actions, and timelines to help the employee improve, and should include any necessary training and support required to achieve them.

There should be regular monitoring throughout an agreed time period, making adjustments to the PIP as needed. If the employee's performance doesn't improve as a result of these measures, the employer can then consider dismissal, but only after exhausting all other options.

You can see from the above that what happened at the meeting doesn’t meet the standard for Capability Procedure - instead DS appears to have been subject to an inappropriate disciplinary procedure. I would also argue that it was inappropriate for them to treat the problem with the holiday booking as a disciplinary because, again, they are aware he has a disability which may affect his information processing abilities, and they should have made sure he was aware the request had been rejected.

I think DS needs to communicate with his supervisor and also his union rep throughout his improvement period, to make sure that appropriate monitoring is carried out and he’s not just left to get on with it, and if he doesn’t meet the required standards at the end of it then he needs to ensure that the supervisor and union rep are aware of everything l’ve discussed here, so that they can help DS get the right level of support from his employer before they get as far as considering dismissal. If he does meet the standard and he feels that it’s unsustainable then he shouldn't wait until his performance is affected. He needs to communicate how he feels and ask for support.

Reasonable adjustment isn’t a favour OP, it’s the law. They knew he was disabled when they took him on, and now they have a legal responsibility to try to level the playing field so he has everything he needs to do the job.