Advertisement

BBC probe reveals working condition issues at Sports Direct

(Reuters) - An investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has revealed that more than 80 calls were made to ambulances by Sports Direct employees at its headquarters in Derbyshire for "life-threatening illnesses".

The figures, which came from a Freedom of Information request made by the BBC's Inside Out team to East Midlands Ambulance Service, revealed that three calls also involved women having pregnancy difficulties, including one who gave birth in toilets at the site, the BBC reported.

Former workers at the sporting goods retailer who were interviewed by BBC said some personnel were "too scared" to ask for leave because they feared losing their jobs, the report said.

A document produced by one of the recruiting agencies for Sports Direct says, "Any person who exceeds six strikes (unscheduled sick leave) within a rolling six-month period will have their assignment at Sports Direct ended", and that the agency could end an assignment "at any time without reason, notice or liability", the BBC said.

Sports Direct could not be reached for comments outside regular business hours.

(Reporting by Ankush Sharma in Bangalore)