Working conditions complaints fell on deaf ears at Lovisa

A damning email has revealed a worker’s desperate plea for better work conditions at a major Australian retailer fell on deaf ears.

A former warehouse worker at an Australian retail giant claims to have lifted the lid on shocking work conditions.

Melbourne man Daniel Sedigh was just 19 and keen to start a career in retail when he signed on for a job at Lovisa’s Hawthorn warehouse in 2015.

The large jewellery retail chain that markets affordable accessories was founded in Australia in 2010 but has boomed to over 400 stores worldwide, including New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, France and the US.

Mr Sedigh was part of a packing team tasked with stocking stores across the country.

But it wasn’t long before he noticed something was up.

He claimed he and others were often provided faulty equipment to use, dodgy trolleys, rusty box cutters and ladders with broken wheels, requiring workers to “drag them” to the shelves they needed to attend to.

Daniel Sedigh worked at a Victorian Lovisa warehouse between 2015 and 2017. Picture: Supplied

“The wheels to these ladders just didn’t work,” he told news.com.au.

“When you’re on it, it’s very wobbly. It’s fine if you are up one or two levels. But if you have to go up all the way up – things get scary.

“You don’t have anybody there – like the protocol wasn’t for somebody just stop their packing to hold the ladder for you.”

He said super-tight deadlines meant there was little time to stop and take in the full extent of the flaws in the warehouse, which was on the same block as a Lovisa corporate office.

Break rooms, the kitchen and bathrooms were also filthy, Mr Sedigh claimed.

He said much of the overseas stock was in “dusty” and “mouldy” boxes, which made breathing difficult.

He would eventually wear a mask to work at the suggestion of his doctor, who told him he risked occupational asthma.

“I started wearing masks, but then nobody else was. So I just kind of went along with it for the next year, but you know, it was like a constant thing,” he said.

Lovisa has over 400 stores across the world. Picture: Brenda Strong

Over the two years he worked there, he recounted high staff turnover and constant issues with shifts and pay.

“There would be days where we would all turn up for work, and someone would say, ‘The printer is broken,’ so you all need to go home – we wouldn’t be paid for that day,” he said.

“There were times when we did overtime that we weren’t paid for.”

Staff turnovers reportedly hit the management level hard, with Mr Sedigh claiming he had six warehouse managers over two years.

“I would bring [issues] up with a manager. They were like, “I’m looking into it,” but two or three weeks later, that person was gone,” he said.

“We had no contact with the main office, even though there was a corporate office next door.”

Fed up, and after passing around a suggestions form among his colleagues, Mr Sedigh emailed the human resources department with severe concerns on November 3, 2017.

The email, seen by news.com.au, alerted the head office of various issues in its warehouse, including missing pay, poor ventilation, mistreatment and unsafe conditions.

He concluded his email: “I want an answer from HR in regards to theses ongoing issues. Are you aware of them? Why haven’t you made any changes in over two years?

“I am a few days away from going to Fair Work and filing a complaint against the company, but I figured out of my loyalty to the company, I approach you first. Maybe just maybe, I can get a proper answer from the office.”

Lovisa jewellery is very popular in Australia, but the company is facing potential class action over work conditions.

He said little came of the complaint, and he left the job 15 days later.

Mr Sedigh said he plans to join a brewing class action against the now-global jewellery chain.

The popular budget jeweller is currently facing a potential class action with specialist law firm Adero looking into allegations of underpayments.

The firm is weighing up whether the retailer has potentially breached its enterprise agreement.

“Adero Law has become aware of a pattern of potential underpayments occurring at Lovisa Pty Ltd (Lovisa), that involves a failure to pay minimum rates of pay arising under the Lovisa Enterprise Agreement 2014,” the firm states.

Adero’s website says it is aware of claims that staff had been directed to skip meal and toilet breaks, undertake unpaid overtime and work additional hours during Christmas sales periods without appropriate overtime rates.

“If these practices have occurred across Lovisa stores, Adero may pursue a class action against Lovisa and seek that compensation be paid to any employee whose entitlements were not paid in full,” the firm said.

Other workers have recently taken to social media to expose alleged poor conditions at the stores.

Former Lovisa employee Marissa Tukuafu (known on TikTok as ‘Trix’) made shocking claims about her experience working for the brand. Picture: Instagram

She said staff were pushed to the point of exhaustion.

One former store attendant, Marissa Tukuafu from Sydney, recently went viral as she claimed she and her colleagues were often told to work overtime and on days off – eventually impacting their health and wellbeing.

Her posts encouraged numerous others to speak out.

Mr Sedigh went on to find fulfilment working with fashion chains H&M and Nike as a sales associate while completing a Bachelor of Fashion.

Mr Sedigh stuck it out in the fashion sector and now runs his own label. Picture: Supplied

Not to let his less-than-ideal introduction to the industry dampen his dreams, he also started a streetwear label called DayOnez.

Lovisa currently scores a 2.4 out of five rating on Indeed.com’s employee review portal from hundreds of reviews.

In December 2022, it was reported Lovisa’s CEO, Victor Herrero, is taking home $21 million a year, making him Australia’s second-highest paid boss.

Lovisa has been contacted for comment.