David Graham has slammed his former employer saying he was “frustrated” watching meals go to waste on his nightshifts.
The 28-year-old, who lives in Westbourne, began working at Parkstone’s Waitrose in 2017.
He mentioned: “Throughout my time on the retailer, I’ve been disheartened by the extent of meals waste that was generated that wasn’t supplied to charity or the staff, generally known as companions, who personal the John Lewis Partnership.
“My first memory of working at the store was seeing four large chickens on a Saturday night going down to the bins.”
When he noticed this, David mentioned Waitrose’s coverage was to offer meals, destined to be chucked, to charity or its staff at a 70/30 break up.
However, he mentioned Waitrose modified its coverage in December final 12 months that means any meals waste left on cabinets after 9pm could be binned.
Furthermore, he has accused the grocery store of “mismatching its messaging” following a publication about tackling meals waste.
Read extra: Woman baffled after being refused entry to Costa Coffee bathrooms
During one shift, David noticed a bakery employee placing doughnuts within the bin when a ‘sugar hit would have been useful’.
He mentioned: “Being hungry and pissed off, I made a decision the one option to start a dialog was to protest by persevering with to eat the meals waste doughnuts.
“I expected to be caught, I expected a conversation to start on how to reinstate the perk and reduce the other food waste and I even considered they may take it to a final warning.”
He mentioned that Waitrose launched two investigations over three “highly stressful weeks” till he was ultimately sacked “on the grounds of theft”.
Read extra: Passenger eliminated as Ryanair flight from Lanzarote lands in Portugal
“I’m upset by the actions of the Parkstone retailer and I’m certain their prospects will even be saddened to listen to this story.
“Ultimately they’ve sacked a long-serving employee over a jam doughnut.
“Ideally, I would like to work here for six more months but this could be a blessing in disguise.”
However, Waitrose mentioned it has “clear” guidelines in place about staff eating inventory and that it donates no matter meals it can to charity.
A spokeswoman for Waitrose advised the Echo the retailer can’t talk about particular person instances about staff, however there are “very good reasons it has strict rules regarding the consumption of food by partners”.
She added: “Like most main meals companies, now we have clear guidelines over the consumption of meals by staff.
Read extra: Pensioner tells council to ‘get their act collectively’ after woes
“It’s our aim that no edible food is wasted and when products are near the end of their shelf life, we donate whatever we can to local charities with any suitable food remaining being shared fairly between our partners.”
David will now spend his time specializing in his digital and software program start-up enterprise and hopes Waitrose administration “can learn from this sad story”.
