JOHN Lewis staff have missed out on £500 bonuses because they were made redundant days before Christmas.

The shopping giant had hired more than 4,000 temporary staff for the festive season – and promised them the lump sum if they completed all their shifts.

Their contracts signed them up to work until December 30 – but 120 of the staff were laid off early, according to The Times.

They were told they were no longer needed because of low sales – and missed out on the bonuses.

One mum of a worker, who is disabled, took to social media when her son was axed and missed out on a weeks wages and the £500.

On Twitter, she said: "On December 23 2021 all temp staff were notified that they were no longer required.

"No attendance bonus or further weeks wages.

"John Lewis online customers get bargains [and] discounts levied on the backs on the temp staff's hard work and commitment to the contract."

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A John Lewis spokesperson told the Times: "We are very sorry to hear about this. 

“All of our temporary workers are recruited via a third-party agency and exact contract lengths are deliberately unspecified due to the uncertainty of festive work requirements, which is an annual occurrence for all retailers.

"The majority of temporary workers that we employed over the Christmas period are now back and will continue to help us through our January sales period and many will also be back for other busy trading periods."

On Boxing Day thousands of eager shoppers across the country braved the cold to score a Boxing Day sales bargain – with some waiting outside their favourite stores as early as 5am.

Retail experts say Omicron has sent shoppers online as the number of bargain hunters looking for Boxing Day sales on the high street plummeted to almost half of pre-pandemic levels.

Footfall at shopping sites across the UK on Boxing Day up to noon was 45 per cent below the 2019 level, according to data from industry analyst Springboard.

But the British Retail Consortium said that, although many consumers shunned the shops, the sector could see a boost due to online trade.

BRC spokesperson Tom Holder said: "The spread of Omicron across the UK has increased the share of spending made online as many consumers avoided town and city centres.

"While spending on travel and hospitality may be lower than their pre-pandemic levels, retailers are waiting to see whether this leads to higher spending on retail goods, particularly food and homeware."

In central London, footfall was 67 per cent lower than 2019 numbers, while it was 58 per cent below 2019 in other major UK cities.

London's West End specifically – home to many of the UK's flagship stores, saw a drop of almost half of pre-pandemic levels on Boxing Day.

Market towns fared slightly better, seeing a 12 per cent decrease from 2019 shopping traffic, while there was only a 7 per cent drop in outer London.

John Lewis has been approached for comment by The Sun.

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