13th May 2021
Re: 2021 Security Rules Update
Dear Member
Please see below response from Rachel Nolan, Boots dated 10th May 2021 to letter from Jonathan Hogan, Mandate dated 1st April 2021 regarding the above for your information.
John Carty
Divisional Organiser
Ciaran Campbell
Divisional Organiser
Jonathan Hogan
National Coordinator
Mandate Trade Union
By Email
10th May 2021
Re. Boots Ireland Security Rules
Dear Mr. Hogan,
Thank you for your letter dated April 1st 2021.
In your letter you enquired re. the rollout of the Boots Store Security Rules and the CCTV section and the use of audio recording.
At Boots all team members have special responsibilities that include being entrusted with money and merchandise and as everyone shares these responsibilities, we have a set of rules to make sure team members can carry out their work confidently and are safeguarded. The security rules are regularly reviewed and updated, and team members are briefed and given a copy of the rules and asked to sign to confirm they have read and understood the rules. If they have any questions they are encouraged to speak to their line manager. It is a requirement of working for Boots that team members sign their acceptance of the Security Rules. There has been no change to this process in 2021 from previous years.
The wording in the CCTV section of the Security rules mirrors the wording in the company Worker (Privacy) Policy which is available on the company intranet BootsLive. This policy tells team members which type of information we hold, how we use it and how that might affect privacy.
I can confirm that audio recording is used when required for the safety of team members and customers. Audio only begins to record once a panic alarm is pressed. Unless the audio is requested within 30 days of it being recorded it will auto-delete as per our standard CCTV retention periods. Audio recordings are not accessible at store level.
I trust that the above answers your queries and I can reassure you that there have been very few queries from team members on this annual process.
Yours sincerely,
Rachel Nolan,
HR Operations Manager, Boots Ireland.
1st April 2021
Ms Rachel Nolan
HR Operations Manager
Boots Ireland
By Email Only.
Re: 2021 Security Rules Update
Dear Ms. Nolan,
Further to the company’s announcement over the past week regarding updates to the Boots security rules, a number of members across the stores have raised concerns in relation to these developments and the requirement by the company for them to sign a declaration form attached, confirming their acceptance of same. During my discussions with colleagues, it has been made clear to me that fears are been raised in relation to the use of CCTV and the specific mention in the policy update, regarding the use of audio recording.
In addition to the above, issues have been made in relation to the manner in which this update is being rolled out in stores, resulting in no consultation with staff and a forceful approach by store management for staff to sign and accept the document, when clearly they have outstanding questions and apprehensions that need to be addressed by their employer. Given that this document is a declaration of understanding requiring our members to sign it in that context, I would ask the company to refrain from the immediate implementation of this policy update, listen to the concerns raised by our members at both national and at store level and amend the policy to reflect the feedback from your staff.
Yours sincerely
Jonathan Hogan
National Coordinator