No respect or consideration for the employees - Customer Assistant Marks & Spencer Employee Review

1.0
4 Dec 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I would say the only pros at this point is the staff discount

Cons

- Ridiculous work patterns, making you work almost everyday with a different schedule - Understaffed at the maximum, with pressure from high level to cut even more hours - Managers acting against the policy, making people work shifts with less than 11h between them and later "making up" on the system, so it won't flag (I saw a lot of different managers doing this) - They promise me progressing to team manager, made me work almost one year as TM, getting paid as a customer assistant (all the managerial work that required a manager's login was done using a fellow manager's employee number) - After this ridiculous situation, I asked to reduce my hours to take care of my mental health and go back to study, and I was coerced to resign and leave the company. I'll have to mention this coercion happened on a meeting with two managers I've never seen, without any witness and notice. The list goes on and on and on, but the summary is: what they pay you is far from enough to what they do to your mental health.

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Marks & Spencer Response
2y
Hi, thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We're very sorry to hear about your experience and would like to apologize for any issues that you’ve found during your time with us. We’ll ensure this is fed back to the relevant team. In the meantime, if you wish to outline further, please do contact our Line Manager Advisory Team (LMAS) via LMAS@marks-and-spencer.com so that they can further look into the issues you've raised. Thank you for bringing these matters to our attention. Marks and Spencer

Explore other reviews about Marks & Spencer

5.0
5 Aug 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I love how positive the working environment

Cons

I dont like some of the names of the bread

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Marks & Spencer Response
11mo
Hi there, thanks so much for leaving such a great review – it’s lovely to hear that you enjoyed working for us! We're so grateful for your kind words, so thanks for sharing your review with us and the Glassdoor community. Our success relies on the dedication of employees like yourself, so we thank you for all your hard work! Wishing you all the best, Marks and Spencer
1.0
27 July 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-20% discount -I must enter 5 words

Cons

Never before have I worked for a company where the threat of gross misconduct is thrown around constantly by management. Senior members of staff have been given wrriten warnings over sudden changes in policy. Instead of carrot and stick you're just given the stick. A sudden change in policy comes in and immediately a TM or TSM will tell you "if you can't do this you will recieve a written warning or disciplinary." That is a best case scenario, the alternative is nobody tells you and you continue to do everything as normal and you get punished for an absolute absence of communication. Regional managers pressure Store Managers to hand out punishments like quotas. Worst of all, the company promotes immature and lazy managers for the most part, who will happily stand around doing absolutely nothing, but drive workers aged 60+ like a cart horse. Sorting basic worker's rights like annual leave is a chore to them, and they act as though they are doing you a favour when you do the bare minimum. Favouritism in my store is endemic. Not all managers are like this, my store manager just happens to like a handful of staff and puts down everyone else.

2
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Marks & Spencer Response
11mo
Thanks for raising your concerns. We're really sorry to hear you’re unhappy and we want you to know that at M&S, we care deeply about doing the right thing and acting with integrity, building trust, supporting one another and taking the time to listen. You have already addressed the first step of voicing your views on here, and now we encourage you to talk to your Line Manager. If you feel you cannot approach your Line Manager, then tell a more senior person or someone who you feel most at ease with, for example your BIG rep or your HR Business Partner. Thanks again for sharing, - Marks and Spencer
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