A story in UK newspaper The Mirror, today reports that retail catalogue giant, Argos, have used the Credit Crunch as an excuse to convert Boxing Day from a Bank Holiday to a normal working day for their employees. Argos also wants its workers to "flex their working day by plus or minus two hours for no extra pay" and to accept tiered pay rates linked to "multi-skilling and performance".
In order to try and bully their staff into accepting the proposals Argos are offering a bribe of £500 to employees in exchange for them signing an acceptance of the new conditions. Mutters of potential mass redundancies and the like add to the attempt to frighten staff into capitulation.
Argos say that workers who work on Boxing Day will be given a day off in lieu, whereas at present they either pay double-time or else give two days off, Boxing Day being a Public Bank Holiday.
This measure, should it be implemented, will herald further draconian measures by Argos without doubt. What next? Will it be Christmas Day or Easter? Eventually they might even manage to do away with staff holidays as well!
Of course, the measures they propose will undoubtedly apply to staff in the retail section of the Company and not the fat cats at the top who will undoubtedly continue to enjoy the benefits of Bank Holidays that they are attempting to deny their staff.
All in all, unacceptable behaviour on the part of Argos!
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