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A severely autistic man who carried out more than 600 hours of volunteer work over four years at Waitrose has lost his job after his mother asked for him to be paid.
Tom Boyd, 27, started helping out at the branch in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, in 2021 by emptying stock cages and stacking shelves accompanied by a support worker to keep him safe.
Soon he was working two days a week from 9.30am to 2pm and was well loved by staff members - some even said he worked harder than people who were paid to be there.
Some would tell the 27-year-old 'you work harder than some people who are paid to work here'.
Last year, Tom's mother Frances, a charity worker from Stockport, and his support workers reached out to Waitrose requesting a small number of paid hours as 'recognition for the time, effort and heart' he has given in those four years and to benefit his development.
However, the store took the request to Waitrose head office who were alarmed by the amount of unpaid work Tom had done and said he would not be able to work until they had resolved the situation.
Tom has now been unable to work any shifts for two months and his mother had to lie to him about the situation as to not upset him.
'We told him the shop is being cleaned. We weren't after 40 or 30 or 20 hours. We said we'd accept four, three or even two - just something,' she told The Times.
Frances said her son misses helping out in Waitrose and that he enjoyed going there.
He has 'very limited' language which made him unable to communicate with customers, but his support workers could have helped him with that if needed.
His mother said: 'He's been doing it for four years, so why can't that continue?'
She said Tom's support workers met Waitrose staff at the store who told them it would not be possible for him to be a paid employee.
The 'heartbroken' mother has dismissed any possibility of taking legal action and instead said the 'ideal situation' would be for Tom to be able to work back at Waitrose in 'some capacity'.
She emphasised how 'amazing' the staff were on the shop floor, clarifying they 'no reflection' of the way the head office have since behaved - adding the 'cold, harsh, big corporate company' are the ones who don't see him as 'an individual'.
Frances and Tom's support workers are now looking to get him working in another supermarket instead.
Alternatively, they are considering a cleaning job for him as he enjoys dusting, vacuuming and making beds.
Frances wrote of the situation on social media: 'They told us he couldn’t be offered a job because he couldn’t "do the full role" - yet we know for a fact there are people in the same store being paid, and they aren’t able to do every part of the job either.
'How is that fair?'
The fuming mum continued: 'After everything he's done, there was no apology, no thanks, and no recognition for his commitment. Just silence.'
Waitrose said: 'We work hard to be an inclusive employer. As part of this, we partner with a number of charities, including to provide work experience, and are well experienced in making reasonable adjustments to help people succeed at work.
'We are sorry to hear of Tom's story, and whilst we cannot comment on individual cases, we are investigating as a priority.'
Daily Mail have approached Waitrose for further comment.