Waitrose has been accused of forcing reduced redundancy payouts on warehouse staff who were already at risk of losing their jobs. The retailer, which forms part of the John Lewis Partnership, is under scrutiny for its decision to offer affected workers a lower redundancy package having proposed a more generous payout in January. John Lewis announced to staff earlier this year that it was planning to halve redundancy payouts, making it cheaper for bosses to lay off workers. However, staff are now claiming that a review into the anticipated closure of a warehouse in Enfield, codenamed “Project Hazel”, had started before changes to the partnership’s redundancy package were made. The proposal means departing employees will receive one week’s pay per year of service, having said its previous two-week policy was “higher than typical market practice and comes at a very high cost”. However, a group of warehouse staff hit back at plans in a counter-proposal to John Lewis, claiming: “Considering Project Hazel was up and running long before the changes in the redundancy package were discussed, the earlier redundancy package should be the package used when dealing with affected partners.” More than 500 workers are at risk of redundancy through...