Sports Direct denies naming and shaming warehouse workers

The allegations stem from undercover investigations published by the Guardian.

Labour MP Chuka Umanna also raised the allegations in parliament.

Key points in the Sports Direct statement are:

• Sports Direct directly employs a number of staff in the Shirebrook warehouse. The remaining workers in the warehouse have contracts with one of two main agencies the Company uses to staff the warehouse. These contracts are on an agreed (between the worker and the agency) contracted hours basis. No Sports Direct employees are engaged in the Shirebrook warehouse on a 'zero hour' contract, and the main agencies have confirmed to us that none of their workers are engaged on a 'zero hour' contract.

• Neither agency workers nor employees are subjected to 'naming and shaming' via publication of a league table identifying individuals by name. The Company uses an anonymous ranking system to monitor performance. An individual's unique number (known only to the employment agencies, the Company and the worker) benchmarks staff against the anonymised data of their peers. Individuals can check their performance, should they wish to do so.

• The warehouse tannoy is not used to 'harangue' or 'name and shame' staff; the tannoy is used for logistical reasons, for example, to redeploy staff to other areas of the building or to let staff know that a truck is waiting for stock to be dispatched.

• Sports Direct does not penalise its staff for being ill. Sanctions may be applied if workers fail to follow the Company's reasonable sickness absence notification procedures, which are in line with industry best practice. The Company is not aware of any occasions on which sick children have not been able to be collected from school by their parents. Sports Direct allows staff time off to look after dependants in such circumstances.

• Neither Sports Direct nor the agencies it uses discriminate in favour of or against any applicant or worker on the basis of nationality or for any other reason. Both the Company and the agencies with which it works are equal opportunities employers. There are workers of various nationalities, including local British citizens, currently working in the warehouse. Neither the Company nor the agencies distinguish between workers of different nationalities; Sports Direct and the agencies value the contribution of all workers equally.

• Sadly, all companies have to be cognisant of theft from warehouse operations. As such, there is a need for some security measures to be in place at Shirebrook. One simple and sensible way of managing this issue is to ensure that workers do not wear the clothing brands stocked in the warehouse. This is not an unusual practice in many retail companies' warehouse operations. There are of course numerous other brands that staff can easily wear.

All employees, agency workers and visitors, including executive management and Board members, are subject to random searches on leaving the Shirebrook warehouse. Trained security staff conduct random searches and the Company continues to keep the process under review, with the aim of reducing any inconvenience to staff as much as possible.