Whether workers in nonessential jobs should continue to go to work has become a highly contentious political issue in Britain in recent days. The government has simultaneously advised that people need to stay home as much as possible in order to save lives, and also that they should go to work if their bosses instruct them to do so. The experience of Next distribution workers highlights a problem that is likely to be far more widespread.

An employee at one of Next’s distribution centres in Yorkshire told BuzzFeed News that workers there were still being required to come into work, but claimed the government’s social distancing advice was not being followed.

When workers arrived at work this morning, dozens of them stood together waiting to be assigned tasks, they said. “There were 50 people stood together brushing shoulders.”

They also said that employees had been told to eat lunch in their cars to avoid each other. Some employees had been eating at “filthy” workstations in close proximity to one another, they claimed.

“There are around 5,000 people who work at these warehouses. If one person gets it, everyone will get it — it is impossible not to stand closely to people and walk past people. It is ridiculous that Next are telling us we have to come in, because apparently we are an essential business. They are putting our lives at risk,” the employee told BuzzFeed News.

A Next spokesperson said: "Social distancing is being strenuously ‘policed’ and strictly adhered to by staff."



A second employee at a different Next distribution centre told BuzzFeed News a similar story. They said that scanners were being passed between dozens of employees per day with only minimal sanitisation.

They also confirmed that staff were having to eat in the road outside because the canteen had been shut.

“It is appalling,” the employee said. “We should be closing down these warehouses, they are not essential. Next should say our drivers will help ambulances and other essential services, rather than focus on profits.”