Face Masks

[Tulip]

Having shielded for the past few months I’m appalled that work colleagues are even questioning whether they should wear face masks or not. There is absolutely no reason not to, I have asthma and yes, it’s hot uncomfortable and claustrophobic but I can still breathe. I’ll be wearing a mask, not for myself, but for everyone else. It’s bad enough that they’ve removed the one way systems and the stores are like a rugby scrum without colleagues acting like children

[manbearpig]

I have no issue with wearing a mask and have been wearing one for the past week or so. The problem is the management team at my Tesco store seem to be purposefully withholding information on Tesco's official communication and policy on face masks in an attempt just to get everyone in face masks so they don't have to deal with rowdy customers who question why some colleagues aren't wearing one.

They haven't told anyone that they may be exempt from wearing one due to physical or mental illness, for example. My management team also haven't told employees that Tesco policy states it actually isn't mandatory to wear a face mask for colleagues, it is only "strongly advised" and "ultimately it is the choice and responsibility of the individual" according to the briefing that was sent down to managers.

[Hammer10]

Yet again holding back info.

[gaz123]

How can people not understand how risky facemasks are? I mean, history is rife with stories of surgeons and operating theatre staff keeling over in the middle of surgery through lack of oxygen. In fact, it's a wonder how anyone in a hospital ever gets any work done at all, given that they're all collapsed in corners of the room fighting for breath.

[letmego]

The message / team 5 posted on Our Tesco yesterday about masks has been removed, probably due to hundreds of comments around the mandatory wearing of masks for colleagues. The brief was it's mandatory to wear one the truth is it's not. A u turn on the scale of Donald Trump is on the cards.

[Mark calloway]

We on nights have to told we HAVE to wear them from 10pm till 12 then 6am till 7. Store manager "insists". So ignore the swarm of dot comedy piling on the aisle but wear them for 1 or 2 customers coming in. Also wearing them 4 months into a pandemic is like bringing condoms to a baby shower

I would have thought YOU would be insisting on wearing one at all times, having read your past posts regarding your family's ill health 

I do wear one you utter *******

[Mark calloway]

The only reason it is believed to be " this late in the Covid game" is because the country went into lockdown, far too late in my opinion, to fight the transmission of this DEADLY virus. To just abandon the precautions is what's ridiculous. Has everyone forgotten how many people have died over the last four months, including all the NHS, carers and frontline workers, the majority of whom died scared and alone!
I don't think playing Russian roulette, by choosing not to wear one, is exercising your rights of freedom of choice, It's not a fashion statement, it's using everything possible to maintain the defence against this unseen deadly enemy.
If you were in a trench on the frontline, would you refuse to go over the top without your rifle, because it was heavy, hurt your shoulder carrying it, and was giving you a headache 
Anyone with a genuine medical reason for being unable to wear one, should be protected from face to face contact with customers.

We have been fine the last 4 months in the trenches without our rifle, a virus so deadly that I do not know one colleague tested positive despite thousands of customers weekly coming through the doors.

same in our store. Nobody has caught it

[lucgeo]

 8-)You mind you don't fall off that bandwagon mate

Can't be arsed to check, but pretty sure you were extremely vocal on the threads regarding Tesco lacking in their duty of care regarding....social distancing, vulnerable colleagues, shielding etc...etc...etc...

[lucgeo]

We on nights have to told we HAVE to wear them from 10pm till 12 then 6am till 7. Store manager "insists". So ignore the swarm of dot comedy piling on the aisle but wear them for 1 or 2 customers coming in. Also wearing them 4 months into a pandemic is like bringing condoms to a baby shower

I would have thought YOU would be insisting on wearing one at all times, having read your past posts regarding your family's ill health 

I do wear one you utter *******

Then kind of makes your initial post pointless and nonsensical, especially the last sentence...bet you've been wanting to use that comparison for ages, haven't you 

[bornfree]

Our night team have been told to wear masks for there whole shift. Worries me if we run out, there won't be any left for day shift to wear when we are more vulnerable than nights due to less social distancing and a lot more people around.

[Fixxer]

We had a briefing for the Twilight staff Yesterday.
All the managers have agreed that they will be wearing face coverings and have said that although it's not compulsory for staff to wear them they have suggested it is a good idea and that there would be a plentiful supply for everyone.

To be honest they pitched it just right and quite maturely (for Tesco)
There were lots of "Well I won't wear one because XYZ" but actually talking the staff as humans and saying "Look, all the customers HAVE to wear them, It's not comfortable to wear them all the time but as a company we're here to make our customers feel as happy as possible while shopping and it's likely that a good deal of people will feel reassured if the staff in the place they are mandated to wear a covering also wear something. You won't be forced to wear one, or punished if you don't, but it'd really help if you could give it a go wherever possible. Even if you try it and don't get on with it then speak to your manager and that'll be the end of it - even if it's just you wearing one in the busiest periods for short lengths of time it might help"

Not a bad approach to be honest. Full marks.

[Mark calloway]

We on nights have to told we HAVE to wear them from 10pm till 12 then 6am till 7. Store manager "insists". So ignore the swarm of dot comedy piling on the aisle but wear them for 1 or 2 customers coming in. Also wearing them 4 months into a pandemic is like bringing condoms to a baby shower

I would have thought YOU would be insisting on wearing one at all times, having read your past posts regarding your family's ill health 

I do wear one you utter *******

Then kind of makes your initial post pointless and nonsensical, especially the last sentence...bet you've been wanting to use that comparison for ages, haven't you 

not really.

[Siwel123]

Agreed, now our managers have spoken to us, a lot of people feel reassured and understand the policy. They were also sensible in saying they will wear them but no worker will face consequences for not doing so, however it's strongly encouraged to show a united front between staff and customers.

[manbearpig]

We had a briefing for the Twilight staff Yesterday.
All the managers have agreed that they will be wearing face coverings and have said that although it's not compulsory for staff to wear them they have suggested it is a good idea and that there would be a plentiful supply for everyone.

To be honest they pitched it just right and quite maturely (for Tesco)
There were lots of "Well I won't wear one because XYZ" but actually talking the staff as humans and saying "Look, all the customers HAVE to wear them, It's not comfortable to wear them all the time but as a company we're here to make our customers feel as happy as possible while shopping and it's likely that a good deal of people will feel reassured if the staff in the place they are mandated to wear a covering also wear something. You won't be forced to wear one, or punished if you don't, but it'd really help if you could give it a go wherever possible. Even if you try it and don't get on with it then speak to your manager and that'll be the end of it - even if it's just you wearing one in the busiest periods for short lengths of time it might help"

Not a bad approach to be honest. Full marks.

Sounds like you have a decent management team.

The management team in my store have pretty much decided to do things their own way and ignore government advice and Tesco policy. In my store they're now saying you must wear a mask even if you're working behind a screen on checkouts, which goes against Tesco's own policy which states that it is optional. The feeling in my store is that they're trying to avoid backlash from customers who may see colleagues without a mask on and kick off, so the management team have just decided to tell floor staff it's 100% mandatory to wear one; no mention of exemptions on mental health or physical health grounds - basically they didn't mention 85% of what was included on the briefing that was sent down from managers, which seems to be quite common across a few stores I'm hearing - SMs having an ego trip and just deciding their own policies honestly.

There's a lady on checkouts who has a condition that prevents her from wearing and taking of a mask safely, yet management are forcing her into a mask. It's disgusting really.

[1man2jobs]

do we have to wear the face masks when we turn up to gang fills?

[BUY TESLA STOCK]

1man2jobs

A face covering should be the least of your worries. 

[King1999]

We had a briefing for the Twilight staff Yesterday.
All the managers have agreed that they will be wearing face coverings and have said that although it's not compulsory for staff to wear them they have suggested it is a good idea and that there would be a plentiful supply for everyone.

To be honest they pitched it just right and quite maturely (for Tesco)
There were lots of "Well I won't wear one because XYZ" but actually talking the staff as humans and saying "Look, all the customers HAVE to wear them, It's not comfortable to wear them all the time but as a company we're here to make our customers feel as happy as possible while shopping and it's likely that a good deal of people will feel reassured if the staff in the place they are mandated to wear a covering also wear something. You won't be forced to wear one, or punished if you don't, but it'd really help if you could give it a go wherever possible. Even if you try it and don't get on with it then speak to your manager and that'll be the end of it - even if it's just you wearing one in the busiest periods for short lengths of time it might help"

Not a bad approach to be honest. Full marks.

Sounds like you have a decent management team.

The management team in my store have pretty much decided to do things their own way and ignore government advice and Tesco policy. In my store they're now saying you must wear a mask even if you're working behind a screen on checkouts, which goes against Tesco's own policy which states that it is optional. The feeling in my store is that they're trying to avoid backlash from customers who may see colleagues without a mask on and kick off, so the management team have just decided to tell floor staff it's 100% mandatory to wear one; no mention of exemptions on mental health or physical health grounds - basically they didn't mention 85% of what was included on the briefing that was sent down from managers, which seems to be quite common across a few stores I'm hearing - SMs having an ego trip and just deciding their own policies honestly.

There's a lady on checkouts who has a condition that prevents her from wearing and taking of a mask safely, yet management are forcing her into a mask. It's disgusting really.

They can't actually do that......ffs report these scumbags.....papers if need be stir some s*** up for this joke of a company.

[adamlad]

The policy is on colleague room

[King1999]

Bullies need to be exposed ........ too much of it going on.

[Mark calloway]

My point was that why do we have to wear masks when there's only a couple of customers but not when there's a swarm of dot comedy piling on your aisle? I'll be wearing mine from 4am.

[Halftone84]

Going to be interesting in express.

Mask on shop floor, bell rings to jump on till, remove mask behind screen, dispose of mask, finish serving, replace mask before walking onto shop floor.  5 minutes later, bell rings, repeat.

Also, where have the government "strongly advised" masks are worn by retail staff ? All I've found is George Eustice saying retail staff aren't covered by the new ruling.

[jester21]

Ello Halftone84 you dont have to wear a mask its only tesco asking us to wear them by law we dont need to so you can refuse polity lol

[Halftone84]

At the moment, I'm planning on politely refusing, but the mask policy document printed and left on our staff room table this week says the government "strongly advised" retail staff to wear them.  I hadn't seen that ANYWHERE, and just wondered if it was made up by tesco for that document.

[coffee_tea]

The strongly advised was in a news bulletin yesterday, so for once, Tesco haven't grabbed the wording from thin air.

[bobby:):):)]

You won’t be catching me in a mask!!!!! Should have been done from day 1 not month 5.  To hot to be filling a cage with it on. Gov uk website states we don’t have to so I won’t be. I not being told by my SM I have to wear one. Just for publicity make Tesco look good. Should be down to choice not saying YOU GOT to wear one. I am 30 years of age and not got to do anything I don’t want to do to or which is not law!!!!!.

Also managers telling my friends in a other store to wear one what right have you got to make someone wear a mask!!! Only reason she should wear one is to stop her smelling the bad smell of the manager. 👍👍