A major supermarket company has denied responsibility for store policies restricting staff access to what union leaders say is a “basic right”.
A post on Reddit yesterday authored by user ButterscotchOwn9008 alleged that checkout workers in a Foodstuff’s branded supermarket aren’t allowed water at their work areas.
“My local New World is banning staff from having their water bottles at checkout, management have said they can drink water on their breaks, every couple of hours, however many staff find themselves having to work through their breaks, increasing the risk of dehydration.”
Other users suggested this was not a companywide mandate, the posts’ top comment read: “This is not New World policy. This is one store owner (or checkout manager) being a d...head”.
A Foodstuffs spokesperson told the Herald that policies do vary from store to store.
"As a co-operative, each of our stores is independently owned and operated, so decisions on things like drink bottles at checkouts are made locally."
The grocery brand neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the ban, saying instead: “There’s no national Foodstuffs policy on this, but we expect our store teams to be fair and reasonable and to look after their teams.”
Rudd Hughes, Workers First Union deputy secretary, told the Herald that access to water outside of mandated break times was an issue the union has dealt with in a number of retail chain stores.
“We have successfully been able to make the case that denying staff a basic right, like access to drinking water while at work is not enforceable, sensible or practical,” Hughes said.
Hughes explained that Foodstuffs’ company structure, made up of two parent cooperatives in the North Island and South Islands adds a layer of complexity to employment relations.
“The Foodstuffs model entails that Pak’nSave and New World store managers set their own individual employment policies, which unfortunately means there’s no consistent standard for allowing staff access to water while working across the country.”
In the comments, user LostForWords23 said they worked in a Foodstuffs supermarket and their store did allow drink bottles during shifts.
“You get thirsty pretty quickly when you have to be conversing (and moving your body) pretty much 100% of the time.”
Regardless of who is setting or enforcing store policies, Hughes says workers should be allowed to have water bottles at their workstations.
“Access to drinking water at work is a basic health and safety right, and our union will pursue any breach of this standard with store managers at Foodstuffs supermarkets on behalf of our members.”
Other commentors on the Reddit thread highlighted that restricting access to water potentially poses greater risks.
Under the original Reddit post, an account with the username reserge11 wrote: “My daughter has worked at NW for two years and has never been allowed water. She has a condition called POTS and needs to stay hydrated but she has to leave her checkout to get water. So dumb.”
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora advises you need about 8 to 10 cups (2 to 2.5 litres) of fluid each day to keep your body working properly.
If you do not drink enough, you risk dehydration which in turn can cause headaches, tiredness and poor concentration.
Hughes also outlined that public-facing retail roles don’t offer the flexibility other workplaces might.
“Retail workers are often working in understaffed stores where leaving the shop floor to get water is not possible due to the workload or the presence of waiting customers, Hughes said.
As such, he says store owners must ensure staff can have drink bottles with them on the shop floor where possible, and if not, they must make it easy and quick for workers to leave their post to hydrate as needed.
“Anything less is inexcusable.”
A Woolworths spokesperson said its employees do not have to abide by such policies: “It’s not an issue at Woolworths, our team members are allowed water bottles.”
Hughes has implored New World to follow suit.
“Foodstuffs should up their game and ensure individual store managers are adopting a consistent principle that any worker can safely access drinking water at work without being punished for it.”
Foodstuffs said: “Our people do a great job, and we want them to feel comfortable and supported at work.”