Boots sent worker home

Re: Boots sent worker home

mo1905 said:

I agree with Sid. I'd bet money we're only getting half the story.



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Your right, Boots have their head office,factories etc; in Nottingham and East Midlands. Their security system may have had good reason not to permit this person access to a strict secured area and probably suggested a simple alternative.
I have been there and it is like Fort Knox.

Re: Boots sent worker home

people who do white collar work aren't restricted in whether or not they want to suck sweets or take anything else to snack so why are other grades of worker penalised in this way?

Re: Boots sent worker home

The us and them syndrome is still alive and well in British industry. "Staff" are still treated as responsible and deserving whilst the rest are shifty n'ere do wells who need strict rules and harsh treatment. Oh, and the management/staff will deny this with great vehemence!

Try comparing hours/holidays etc. Have a look at the very lovely chairs in the offices then look at the hard plastic or thin padding on the peasants seats.

Want time off for a visit to the DN? No problem, no loss of earnings if you're staff. Load of aggro and loss of wages for the serfs.

Britain at its best!



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Re: Boots sent worker home

MaudieG said:

Well let's not just jump on the wagon together here we can see it could be a problem! It's giving the freedom to the worker to suck sweets when he/she wants; even though he/she is diabetic and may need sugar. They would no doubt however have come up with an alternative and maybe they did and we just didn't hear that side of it. It's unlikely they would just say no without a discussion on it don't you think?
They are trying to maintain their focus on customer and how a sweet sucking member of staff would be perceived. It's more than likely they had made some other option for the diabetic person but it has failed to be reported. So hang on and see what more is said.
We know when a hypo is coming on and we know that if we don't eat at certain times we are more likely to get a hypo. I don't think having diabetes is a reason to lean on it. There are sensible options for that situation at work and I'm sure that boots (no I'm not a boots worker or anything like that), would have offered a solution that was rejected.

Find out the facts before condemning boots. If it turned out they didn't want to discuss something further on the subject, then ok, then you'd be right to shout about it. 8)

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I completely disagree. Once you are a blue collar worker, it is difficult to have perfect control and full predicibiliy of your lows. It looks that you do not know anything about the work for big chains and hard work of adjusting insulin to unknown workload. It is quite often that you are unable to leave serving customer especially during busy times, which are unpredictable and adjusting timings of your breaks not to let down expectations of your bosses. Sucking the sweets in front of customers sounds rediculusly indeed and there are hundred different solutions to this problem.
I have been working for a big supermarket and it is standard rule that you cannot have anything personal on you during the work. I was sticking to the rule for the first couple of lows after which I started to look for a solution.
First of all you have to be prepared to the conversation you are going to have. Before having formal one it would be wise to have a privet informal conversation with your manager or whoever is your direct boss and explain what the Diabeties is all about, what is your control, what is needed to keep you safe and sound. If this does not work the next stage is a meeting with hr boss, but this time you have to be prepared. Everything stated during first conversation has to be put in writing and all conclusions and agreements are supposed to be written and signed. If you still are unhappy about solutions you could go to the court.
I myself managed to find 2 solutions to the problem: first I have sweets which are not for sale in the chain I work for and second that I can take product of the shelf and consume it in customer free area and pay for it and the end of my shift.
I would definitely condemn Boots and feel sorry for the worker. Boots, which is supposed to be aware of diabotic's problem makes it more difficult. I hope that some solution is found..

Re: Boots sent worker home

Not all people know that one is coming on, yes I do, however I know of several that the first they know is that they go wobbly and virtually collapse and have difficulty explaining the reason, they could though stuff a sugar knob in their mouths.
What I cannot understand why sweets, what is wrong with a quickly crunched knob of sugar. That is not too hard to carry. It would be nice if Boots were to answer.

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Nice if Boots were to answer to who ? This forum ? How do you know they haven't answered to anyone who is involved or needs to know. Just because you haven't heard from them does not mean they haven't tried to make "reasonable adjustment". My point is, nobody here knows the full story. It's the media who have printed a one-sided story yet again.
There are procedures to follow if necessary. If Boots have behaved poorly under The Equality Act, I'm sure we will hear of a guilty verdict. The employee has many options, legal proceedings, employment tribunal, Union, HR etc. I'm all for sticking up for the underdog and am passionate about fairness and equality at work but it's important to know all the facts, not just a few from a newspaper.


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Re: Boots sent worker home

Totally agree with Mo1905,

This has been very one sided, we have not even seen the news clip where there may be something in the small print that justifies some kind of reason.

Re: Boots sent worker home

Maybe the worker should carry gluco gel with them. You can get it on prescription therefor in my eyes this is medicine and no need for sweetie eating on duty.

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Re: Boots sent worker home

I once turned up to a university exam and they had tightened the anti-cheating rules (guess why? because they wanted to cut the number of staff they had to hire). I was told I couldn't bring jelly beans in. I showed them my doctor's letter. Apparently I was "supposed to" organise this weeks in advance by contacting the disabilities unit. What #@$&*&% disability? How was I supposed to know anyway?

The by-the-book bastards wouldn't budge. I took the risk, did the exam, was very, very stressed, good thing stress increases blood sugar! I passed though

The Uni should have informed you beforehand. My son has hypoglycemia due to a genetic disorder and his school organised for him to take food into exams. The Dr's letter needs to be registered with the relevant exam board not just school/uni.

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Re: Boots sent worker home

Morganator said:

The Uni should have informed you beforehand.

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The uni didn't know I was diabetic. I didn't know they needed to know. And even then I wouldn't have known who to tell. Bah.

Re: Boots sent worker home

I work for Boots in the pharmacy as a dispenser,I've worked for the company for over 10 years. I find this story very hard to believe as I've been type 1 for 31 years and found I've been treated very well. If I feel my bg is going low they are fine about me going to the tea room to test and do what I need to do. I do believe it would look very unprofessional in my work if I was on the shop floor eating a sweet!

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When I worked in Debenhams we were not allowed water! We had to go off the shop floor to get a drink!

Was this story actually proven?? Just wondered what the outcome is

Don't know the outcome ! Would like to though but as usual we only get half a story !


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Shame they never follow up would of been interesting to see both sides

Boots are usually a good boss. But it could also depend on which bit he works at

This is really bad! How can carrying glucose tablets be a security risk - diabetic or not! I've got a feeling this is a case of ignorance from the security guard (individual) as opposed to a Boots t&c? Either way, its madness!


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THE ONLY THING EMPLOYERS FEAR IS A STRIKE PICKET AND WHEN THEY START TO LOOSE MONEY THATS WHEN THEY CHANGE AND COME ROUND TO EMPLOYEES NEEDS

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Tighter security and not allowed to carry hypo treatment??? Hmmm has anyone thought that boots sell these items. And it could be a case of them tightening security because people are stealing from them? And even though it's a huge problem for the diabetic not being able to carry hypo treatment but we have only heard one side of the story? And due to this it opens up a lit more questions. In life I find that there is 3 sides to every story 1 there side 2 your side and 3 the truth. I think to many people on here jump on the band wagon before knowing all the facts


Type 2 diagnosed 24/01/2013.
Novomix 30, Victoza, Simvistatin.