Pros
- Retail staff (but not warehouse staff) were paid above Award wages. - Even if it was just lip service to 'inclusivity and diversity', it was at least more than you get at some other jobs. - Free and discounted products. - Mostly good colleagues on the same payscale. - My managers were considerate that, for the first month, I was travelling interstate so made sure I was given longer shifts.
Cons
- Claimed to care about us workers but day to do operations were like every other retail company I've worked for. - There was also a massive wage theft case that came to light about six months after I left. I wasn't impacted but warehouse staff were. The Guardian did a piece on it (2020). - We were told to say to customers that Lush didn't do sales days (expect Boxing Day) because it prioritised workers' wages. Obviously, given the above example, that wasn't the case so I have no idea what the deal is there but, retrospectively, not happy with having to lie to the public. - Peak pinkwashing, Will encourage you to wear pronoun badges and yet undermine you by marketing products *heavily* along a gender binary. - There was little unionisation among retail staff (because the SDA sucks). From what I heard, there was some among warehouse staff (I think that would've been UWU). But I also heard that management engaged in what I'd call subtle union busting tactics e.g. pulling workers for one-on-one chats instead of talking to them as a group. - Within my own store, I heard from workers who had been there longer than I had about the store manager's queerphobia. - I also heard from warehouse staff that HQ office staff never go down to the factory floor. - I also heard instances from warehouse staff of management victim-blaming and dismissing disclosures of sexual violence that had occurred at work.