Woolworths is slammed as ‘controlling’ after sign appears

A Woolworths worker has slammed the supermarket giant as ‘controlling’ for introducing a new rule that requires staff to record their break times.

Staff were issued a notice on Monday informing them they will need to register when they take their meal breaks and what time they start and finish their shifts. 

The new ‘clocking practice’ has been introduced to ‘ensure all team members are taking their entitled meal breaks for their health, wellbeing and safety’. 

The move will also help stores to manage their roster properly and pay staff the correct wage.

One Woolworths worker blasted the company over the rule change and took to Reddit to claim the system was ‘micromanaging bull***t’. 

‘Just more controlling disguised as giving a f***. If they cared about over worked employees missing breaks they [would] have an adequate level of staff on at all times,’ they wrote.  

The worker, who also uploaded a picture of the notice employees were provided, said the change would do little to stop staff from entering the wrong break times.

Daily Mail Australia understands the system has been rolled out across 10 Woolworths stores in South Australia. 

The system will be introduced in 100 supermarkets across the state by July 29 and it is already in place across Woolworths Metro and Big W stores. 

The Reddit post was flooded with hundreds of comments with social media users divided over the rule. 

‘They make it sound like it’s for your benefit and in your best interest,’ one wrote. 

‘What a time to be an employee!’ another added. 

Others defended the system as an effective to way to make sure staff get a break.

‘This means that they will have data on people not taking breaks. They can’t pretend it’s not happening. Could be a really good thing for workers,’ one wrote.  

‘I welcome this. [It] means we will get the full allocated break not partial breaks and if it is partial the timesheet will show it,’ another person wrote. 

One Woolworths worker claimed staff at their store have been told to take their breaks when they are told.

The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union secretary Josh Cullinan voiced his opposition to the rule and said workers would feel like they are being watched.

‘When a worker is fearful about their employer knowing the second that they go on break, or come back from break, they end up taking shorter breaks,’ he told Yahoo. 

Mr Cullinan said workers will not paid for taking shorter breaks even if it is a few minutes less than the allocated time. 

A Woolworths spokesman told Daily Mail Australia the system has been implemented to protect the wellbeing of staff. 

‘This solution is critical to ensure there is transparency for our team members, allowing them to have visibility of their meal breaks and confidence that they can take their entitled meal break,’ the spokesman said. 

‘This type of system and rostering practices are very common across all parts of the economy in many other sectors’.

Click here to resize this module