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Waitrose has reversed its ruling not to provide paid work to an autistic man after previously stating he had to discontinue stacking shelves at the store where he had donated his time for several years.

In July, Frances Boyd asked whether her adult child the individual could be given a position at the grocery store in Greater Manchester, but her application was eventually rejected by the company's corporate office.

Recently, alternative retailer Asda stated it was interested in providing Tom paid shifts at its Cheadle Hulme store.

Addressing the supermarket's reversal, Frances stated: "We are going to evaluate the situation and determine whether it is in what's best for our son to return... and are having further discussions with the company."

'We are investigating'

A official for Waitrose commented: "We'd like to have Tom return, in paid employment, and are requesting assistance from his family and the charity to make this happen."

"We anticipate to welcome him again with us shortly."

"We are committed about supporting workers into the workplace who might otherwise not be offered opportunities."

"Therefore, we gladly accepted Tom and his care assistant into our Cheadle Hulme branch to build skills and develop his abilities."

"We have procedures in place to enable unpaid work, and are examining what's happened in this case."

The parent stated she had been "overwhelmed" by how individuals had answered to her talking about her son's experiences.

The individual, who has specific communication needs, was commended for his dedication by store leadership.

"He donated over 600 hours of his energy exclusively because he wanted to belong, make a difference, and create value," stated his mother.

Tom's mother recognized and acknowledged staff at Waitrose's Cheadle Hulme store for helping him, stating: "They made him part of the team and were wonderfully accommodating."

"I feel he was just flying under the radar - everything was working well until it went to head office."

Tom and his mum have been backed by Greater Manchester mayor the mayor.

He stated on X that Tom had received "truly terrible" handling and vowed to "assist him to identify different opportunities that works".

Burnham stated the local government body "actively promotes every business - like Waitrose - to sign up to our recently launched inclusion initiative".

Conversing with Frances, who announced of Tom's Asda job offer on media outlets, the public figure commented: "Well done for highlighting the issue because we require a huge awareness campaign here."

She consented to his invitation to serve as a representative for the program.