Tom Boyd had been volunteering at a Waitrose store in Greater Manchester before he was ‘sacked’ when his family asked if he could be paidFrances Boyd has spoken out about how her son Tom ‘absolutely loved’ his job(Image: BBC)

The mum of a man with autism who worked unpaid for over four years at a Waitrose store in Greater Manchester has spoken out for the first time.

Tom Boyd, 27, had been doing unpaid work experience at the Cheadle Hulme shop for two full mornings every week, mainly stacking shelves.

His mum, Frances, said he’s given more than 600 hours of his time ‘purely because he wanted to belong, contribute and make a difference’.

However, when asked if he could have a few paid hours, Frances said she was ‘shocked’ by the ‘dismissive’ and ‘cold’ response. According to Frances, Waitrose said that Tom wouldn’t be offered a paid job at the store because he ‘couldn’t do the full role’.

Mrs Boyd has taken to national TV today (October 22) after the story of her son gained national interest.

Tom Boyd, 27, volunteered at Waitrose in Cheadle Hulme fore more than four years(Image: Frances Boyd)

Today, she told BBC Breakfast: “He started at Waitrose because he was on a college placement. It began with one hour a week and it started building up over time as it progressed and got better at it and used to doing it and everything was working.

“Eventually, when he left college we asked if he could increase that time to two days which it did. We thought this is working out, well why don’t we ask Waitrose if there is the possibility of paid work.

“He was bringing stock down from the stockroom, taking it onto the shop floor, stacking the shelves, tidying the shelves, putting everything in order and making sure everything was fully stocked.

“He absolutely loved it. He loved that sense of belonging and the structure of going to work and the independence it gave him and feeling like a working man.

“We’ve told him he was a working man once he started to go out and finish college and he used to say: ‘I’m working like my dad and my brother’.”

‘Once head office found out, it was stopped’

She explained that when she first made the suggestion, Waitrose gave them hope that their request might be accepted.

She said: “They didn’t say no which gave us a feeling it was a possibility. There was no ‘no’ immediately, so we thought ‘there’s a chance here’.

“But at the time they said come back to us, we’ve got perhaps recruitment in January and then we can look at it again.

“Time just went by and I think by July of this year it went to head office, because they couldn’t make a decision within the store without taking it to head office. And once head office found out about it, the placement was stopped.

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“We had to sort of make a story up and say that the shop was being cleaned temporarily and that he couldn’t go into work until they cleaned it and then he might be going back and we left it at that.”

Mrs Boyd said she is hoping that exposing the situation will act as a lesson for what she claimed was unfairness surrounding volunteering for disabled people.

She said: “People like Tom don’t fall under any rights under the Equality Act. When you volunteer, your job can end at any time and that’s not really fair, and we hope this is a lesson that we can all take forward and learn from and correct it.”

Mrs Boyd has been offered legal support but has said she would rather he was back working at Waitrose.

The family are now looking into whether they can get him work at another supermarket, with one chain already coming forward and saying it wanted to provide him with paid shifts.

Mrs Boyd also told the Daily Mail she would not be chasing Waitrose for any backdated wages for her son, adding: “It’s beyond that. It’s about young people volunteering.”

Waitrose says it ‘works hard’ to be an ‘inclusive employer’ and is ‘well experienced’ in making reasonable adjustments to help people.

A Waitrose & Partners spokesman said: “We’re absolutely committed to being an inclusive employer.

“We work closely with a number of charities, and employ people from a huge range of backgrounds, including those who require additional support. When we offer work experience, it’s always with good intentions and to help people gain experience.

“While we are not able to discuss individual cases, we would always need to complete our investigation before agreeing the best resolution.

“This is already under way and we’re in touch with the family and the charity to reassure them that we’re working urgently on this.”