Boots told staff they were “encouraged” to come into its headquarters in Nottingham, where Covid-19 infection rates are the highest in England, even after the government advised people to work from home where possible.
Employees said messages from senior managers – seen by the Guardian – indicated they were expected to be at their desks for at least part of the week. Boots verified the messages, including one from its UK managing director, Seb James, but denied that staff were put under any implicit pressure to be in its Nottingham office.
Nottingham has the highest rate of infection in England, at nearly 955 for every 100,000 people in the city, recording 1,000 new cases in the 24 hours leading up to 14 October.
On 13 October, the Boots human resources director, Nathan Clements, wrote to staff to “confirm our working from the office guidance” for staff in Nottingham, including the Beeston site, where Ibuprofen was invented.
“Consistent with the new government regulations and local government guidance, the Beeston campus will remain open for colleagues, to spend some of their working week based in the office,” he wrote.
The email lists exemptions for people who are shielding, are displaying symptoms or are “unable” to spend any of their working week in the office. But it makes no mention of what staff should do if they feel coming to work is unsafe.
One Boots employee told the Guardian: “If you have previously been shielding, you are allowed to work from home, but for all other colleagues it’s an opt-out system and the implication is that you need to have a strong reason to WFH [work from home] – it can’t be personal preference.”
A second staff member referred to the same email and said earlier messages had given the impression that they should come to the office two or three days a week.
In an email sent on 23 September, James said the company wanted people in the office. “The prime minister advised yesterday that the government would revert to the guidance that was in place pre-September; namely that people should work from home if they can do so without adversely impacting their business.
“In line with this, our guidance is to encourage a blend of home and office working for those colleagues who do not fall into vulnerable categories,” he wrote. “About 85% of colleagues have spent some of their week in the office these last few weeks and I think that everybody has found that to be a helpful and good thing to do.
“I am really pleased that, because of the amazing work done by the teams, we can continue to offer this to all of you and hope that you will continue to spend at least some of the working week in the office.”
James said staff who were “unable” to work in the office, for instance because they or a family member had a health condition, should speak to their line manager.
But again, the message did not mention that staff could work from home if they felt unsafe doing otherwise.
The second employee said: “Boots is one of the biggest employers here in Nottingham. I’m concerned for the health of the staff and the community. It doesn’t feel like a good example, from such a big private healthcare company.”
Boots said: “Boots is recognised by the UK government as an essential business providing pharmacy, medicines and healthcare essentials to communities and supporting the NHS during these extremely challenging times. Our support site in Nottingham is critical to keeping our business running, supporting our 50,000 frontline workers (including pharmacists, store assistants and delivery drivers) as well as keeping our 2,400 pharmacies, stores and website operating. They also support in the delivery of products and prescriptions to patients and customers as well as to stores, care homes and hospitals.
“In line with government guidance, our Nottingham site remains open for colleagues, although due to stringent social distancing measures, we cannot accept all colleagues into the office every day, so we are suggesting a blend of home and office working.
“Colleague safety remains paramount and we have comprehensive measures in place across all our workplaces to ensure they are Covid-secure and that they more than meet government guidelines.
“We recognise, however, that for some colleagues it remains appropriate – or necessary – to work from home full-time, and we are happy to support individuals to do this.”
Boots, owned by the US pharmacy firm Walgreens, this week reported a 30% slump in UK sales in the three months to the end of August as shoppers stayed away from town centres and picked up health goods at supermarkets instead.
