Former B&Q chief backs staff over controversial pay contract

The former MD of B&Q Asia, Steve Gilman, is urging parent company Kingfisher to reconsider the pay deal that staff have been forced to sign, which will leave some employees worse off.

Steve Gilman said: “This was not the way we treated staff and got the loyalty and commitment from our valued employees.”

He recently added his name to the Change.org petition, created by a B&Q manager under the pseudonym Kevin Smith. He told The Mirror: “The way it has been communicated to staff, to take it or leave it, is not the way we at B&Q behaved in the many years I was there.”

B&Q is understood to be increasing hourly pay to £7.66 for all staff, but has removed summer and winter bonuses along with weekend premium rates such as double time on Sundays.

Neither Kingfisher or B&Q have revealed how many members of staff have refused to sign the contract, but made the following statement in relation to the matter: “We are pleased that virtually all colleagues have decided to stay within the B&Q family.”

Siobhain McDonagh, a Labour MP who is backing staff, said: “I don’t think what we are seeing is the behaviour of a family. Don’t you cherish and look after your family?

“We are talking about the most loyal of the loyal who have been with the company for a long time but haven’t been shown any loyalty at all.

“They will be very substantially less off, in one case £3,000 a year.”

The report states that Kingfisher has stressed that staff will continue to get a raft of other benefits, and that it will make up any shortfall suffered by workers during the first year.

Source : Insight DIY