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Waitrose has reversed its decision not to offer compensated employment to an autistic man after previously stating he had to discontinue stacking shelves at the location where he had donated his time for an extended period.

In July, the young man's parent requested whether her family member Tom Boyd could be provided a position at the grocery store in the Manchester area, but her application was ultimately declined by Waitrose head office.

Recently, rival chain the grocery chain stated it wanted to offer Tom compensated work at its local branch.

Reacting to the company's change of position, Tom's mother stated: "We are going to consider the offer and determine whether it is in Tom's best interests to resume working... and are having additional conversations with Waitrose."

'Looking into the matter'

A official for Waitrose said: "We'd like to see Tom resume, in paid employment, and are working closely from his relatives and the support organization to facilitate this."

"We anticipate to see him back with us very soon."

"We place great importance about supporting workers into the employment who might usually not be provided employment."

"As such, we warmly welcomed Tom and his care assistant into our local store to learn the ropes and build his confidence."

"We have policies in place to support unpaid work, and are reviewing what's happened in this instance."

Tom's mother said she had been "deeply moved" by how the public had responded to her talking about her family's story.

The young man, who has challenges with communication, was praised for his dedication by store leadership.

"He donated more than six hundred hours of his time solely because he desired community connection, contribute, and have an impact," said his parent.

Frances recognized and acknowledged team members at the local supermarket for helping him, stating: "They made him part of the team and were exceptionally supportive."

"I feel he was just flying under the radar - operations were proceeding normally until it reached corporate level."

Both individuals have been backed by regional leader Andy Burnham.

He stated on X that Tom had received "completely unacceptable" treatment and vowed to "support him to identify different opportunities that succeeds".

The official stated the Greater Manchester Combined Authority "strongly urges every business - like Waitrose - to sign up to our brand new diversity program".

Discussing with Tom's mother, who shared information of the employment opportunity on media outlets, the public figure stated: "Good on you for highlighting the issue because we need a huge awareness campaign here."

She agreed to his proposal to become an advocate for the initiative.