​JD Sports opens investigation into warehouse conditions following expose

London - JD Sports is set to conduct a review of its working policies following a scathing undercover expose from Channel 4 news which shined a light on poor working conditions at its warehouse in Rochdale.

In the documentary, workers claimed that working at the retailer's Kingsway distribution centre was "worse than a prison", while others state they could be fired for something as small as chewing gum or sitting down during a shift. Although JD Sports denied the claims made in the documentary, saying they "are deeply disappointed and concerned by the footage broadcast by Channel 4," and "do not believe it to be an accurate reflection of our culture," the company announced on Thursday morning it would be launching "an investigation into the implementation" of their policies.

"While we maintain that the policies and procedures in place are robust and fair, it is clear that we need to do better in their implementation. In the short term, we intend to retrain all supervisory and security employees at the facility, as a matter of urgency, to ensure that those policies are correctly reflected across the workplace," added JD Sports in a statement.

In the documentary, which included undercover footage of the site filmed over a five week period, there were several claims made of JD Sports implementing a three strike policy, subjecting workers to intense surveillance and job insecurity. Workers state they can get a strike for something as simple as chewing gum or wearing the wrong shirt. However, JD Sports stressed that they "categorically do not operate a 'strike' policy or system" and that their workers "cannot be fired" 'on the spot'.

"We have a fully outlined disciplinary procedure and appeal process based on the ACAS code of practice. Our time and attendance system is specifically designed to ensure that all workers are paid for the time it takes to exit any queue on leaving the site, and we pay all employees in full who are up to 15 minutes late on arrival." JD Sports noted that their employees are "vital to our business, so we take any such allegations very seriously."

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