A son has thanked Sainsbury’s staff for going above and beyond the call of duty to keep his mum in employment after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Doron Salomon said the supermarket adapted his mum’s role, gave her regular retraining, changed her hours and ensured all staff were aware of her condition so she could continue to do the job she loved. The store, in Kenton, London, also provided regular welfare meetings with his mum and dad to regularly check she felt safe and happy.
“It’s just reaffirming to see such a large corporation act like you might expect a small family business to. Their employment of my mum gave her a sense of normality - her friends have jobs and so did she,” Doron told HuffPost UK.
“She was very proud of the work she did - even if to you and I the things she was doing were quite menial - and that helped with her confidence too. The bottom line is we’re just very grateful for how Sainsbury’s have cared for her and impressed if not surprised by how they’ve dealt with her decline.”
Doron shared his mum’s story in a Twitter thread on Sunday, which has since been liked more than 8,000 times.
He explained his mum, who he wishes not to name, first began to experience symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease 10 years ago in her early fifties. However, she wasn’t diagnosed until 2013.
His mum used to work as a bookkeeper, but began to struggle with her daily tasks due to the disease, and applied for a job at Sainsbury’s as part of their in-store ‘picker’ team, putting together people’s online orders for delivery, in 2012.
Doron’s family told the supermarket about his mum’s condition as soon as she received a formal diagnosis in 2013 and said colleagues and managers were “outstanding ever since”.
On Twitter, he explained some of the ways the supermarket enabled his mum to continue working.
He said there were “so many times” Sainsbury’s could have let his mum go. In October 2017 his mum’s occupational health assessment showed her Alzheimer’s was now advanced. But Sainsbury’s continued to adapt her role for a further six months and she had her last day on Saturday.
“Senior management have acted with compassion and handled everything with class and dignity,” Doron said in a further tweet.
“They have been a fabulous employer but more than that, on a human level, the people working at the Kenton store have shown sensitivity, kindness and care. Thank you.”
In response, a Sainsbury’s spokesperson told HuffPost UK: “Doron’s mum was a much loved colleague and an inspiration to all of us. We’d like to thank her for her years of service and wish her all the best for the future.”
Doron is inviting anyone who’s been touched by his mother’s story to make a donation to Alzheimer’s Research UK.