Mike Ashley confirms that Sports Direct paid staff below minimum wage

Mike Ashley, owner of Sports Direct, has admitted paying staff less than the minimum wage whilst giving evidence today to parliament’s business, innovations and skills select committee. Also giving evidence, officials from the Unite union revealed that the company has reached a deal with HM Revenue & Customs to compensate workers for the inadequate pay. Assistant general secretary of Unite, Steve Turner, spoke of the “arrogance and contempt” that characterised the company’s management. The officials also revealed that there had been 110 ambulance callouts to the company’s Shirebrook warehouse. 38 of these callouts were for chest pains whilst five were related to birth and miscarriage situations. One worker gave birth in the warehouse toilets, allegedly because she was afraid to take time off work.

7 Jun 2016 12.11 BST Q: Could MPs drop in unannounced at Shirebrook? 100%, 24-7, Ashley replies. Anyone here is free to do it. I’m telling you, you’ll find things wrong, he adds - but things are getting better. Ashley, told there are more questions: "Jesus". — Dan Milmo (@DanMilmo) June 7, 2016



7 Jun 2016 12.10 BST Q: Are workers now getting paid overtime for working late? (the Guardian exposed that it didn’t happen) Not yet, Ashley says. Q: And are you still haranguing workers over the tannoy system? Thumping the table again, Ashley claims this is a bit of a myth. We do use the tannoy, but to tell staff where to go - like an airport, directing passengers to their gate. If we are abusing it, we deserve the cane. I don’t think that’s within the committee’s remit....



7 Jun 2016 12.08 BST Ashley: Fining workers for being late wasn't fair (!!) The committee now turn to the various offences that can get a worker Struck Out. Q: Why do you dock workers 15 minutes pay if they are one minute late? And in another major concession. Ashley acknowledges that the policy of docking workers 15 minutes of pay if they are one minute late is unfair. The Guardian’s undercover reporters tested this. It also brings workers below the National Minimum Wage.

Q: So who set it up? I don’t know, Ashley replies. And furthermore, he doesn’t think it’s fair. If it happened to one of my kids, I wouldn’t be very impressed, he adds. A jaw-dropping moment.



7 Jun 2016 12.04 BST Simon Goodley MPs are now asking why Sports Direct can’t search workers BEFORE they check out. This is an obvious point - and almost certainly would have been done if it was that simple. But it’s not as easy as that because of the current layout of the warehouse.





7 Jun 2016 12.02 BST Mike Ashley's PR jumps in to play up the "he's one of the workers" line, "eats in staff canteen 3 days a week" and hears from staff — Simon Neville (@SimonNeville) June 7, 2016



7 Jun 2016 12.02 BST Mike Ashley is now explaining that he knows his workers closely - he regularly eats with them in the staff canteen to find what’s going on. Q: But does that mean you’re the right person to investigate the allegations against the company? For as long I’m at Sports Direct, the review into working practices will go on. And it will be totally independent, he replies.

Ashley is now thumping the table, insisting that the review will be successful. <thump thump thump>



7 Jun 2016 11.56 BST Oh, the perils of business success.... Ashley: "One minute had tiny little inflatable and you're in control and the next minute you are on an oil tanker" — Sarah Butler (@whatbutlersaw) June 7, 2016



7 Jun 2016 11.56 BST The committee are keen to find what oversight Ashley has over Sports Direct. Waving his hands and miming typing, Ashley is explaining that the company creates thousands of reports. Staff should alert me when there are red flags and problems, not when things are running smoothly. Q: Transline [one of the agencies supplying staff] just told us that they only got 45 replies to a survey (out of 2000). Are you surprised? Ashley looks highly unsurprised - people say they want to give feedback, but they rarely take it up. That’s why he prefers to talk to people on the shop floor.

