Doron Salomon’s mother began to exhibit symptoms of extreme “forgetfulness” as early as 2008.
His mother, a very organized woman, used to work as a bookkeeper prior to this.
She’d always been sharp as a tack.
She was a woman who loved numbers and her job, but the signs of her condition were too hard to ignore.
She eventually quit her job.
It just became too hard to perform her job effectively. Although she couldn’t work as a bookkeeper anymore, his mother could still work at a less-skilled job.
In 2012, she applied to work at Sainsbury’s, the UK’s second-largest supermarket chain, and was hired in the Kenton, London store.
Her official title was “picker” and she was responsible for fulfilling online orders by removing these items from the shelves.
She was again good at her job and she loved it.
It was during her employment at Sainsbury that she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in late 2013.
Alzheimer’s Disease is a brain disorder that destroys memory and thinking skills.
Eventually, individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease have a hard time performing even the most simple task.
Sainsbury was informed of the diagnosis.
And they did a wonderful thing.
They kept Doron’s mother on their employee list and continued to give her a job.
Not only that, the company gave her regular retraining, especially when she forgot her tasks.
They adjusted her work hours. Plus they regularly met with Doron and his father for welfare meetings.
They even made sure that other employees knew about her condition and how to help her.
Mrs. Salomon loved her job.
It gave her a daily sense of purpose. However, there came a time when Mrs. Salomon “forgot” to do her job as a picker.
Doron and his father feared that this would be the day when Sainsbury would tell them they had to let her go.
Instead, Sainsbury gave her a “promotion”.
They still kept Mrs. Salomon as part of the roster and gave her a new job. She was now in charge of cleaning the store’s tote bags.
This became the most important job in the world for her.
That attitude was most likely a major reason Kenton Sainsbury decided to still keep Mrs. Salomon as an employee.
Her son Doron elaborated in a Twitter post:
“To my mum, cleaning the tote boxes became the most important job in the world. If she didn’t do it the store would fall apart. The sense of self-worth and pride has undeniably helped with aspects of her Alzheimer’s, such as giving her something to talk about in social situations,” Doron wrote on Twitter.
Sainsbury continued welfare meetings with Doron and his father.
Unfortunately, the day they were dreading had finally arrived.
In 2017, Mrs. Salomon’s occupational health assessment showed that her condition had advanced and she could no longer be employed.
The assessment forced their hand
It was only because of this assessment that Sainsbury decided to let her go.
Doron and his father have nothing but gratitude and love for Sainsbury because of what they did for Mrs. Salomon.
“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 said. “Senior management have acted with compassion and handled everything with class and dignity. 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.”
As might be expected, Doron’s Twitter thread about Sainsbury’s treatment of his mom throughout her condition was met with much love and praise.
“Thank you for sharing a wonderfully uplifting story @DoronSalomon – and outing @sainsburys for such outrageously decent behaviour,” wrote one man.
Another person gave Sainsbury’s a shoutout for their treatment of her friend’s son,
“@Sainsburys have been similarly great with my friend’s son with social and communication difficulties and mental health issues.”
It’s amazing to see an uplifting story about a big corporation going out of its way to be compassionate to its employees.
Hopefully, many more corporations in the future will take note.
Learn how to spot early symptoms of Alzheimer’s and what to do about it in the video below!
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