Tesco staff will have to clean shelves, fridges and toilets from next month in a decision one employee described as like being "stabbed in the back".
The grocer has announced plans to stop working with contract cleaners in nearly 2,000 of its stores.
The work they were doing will be passed on to staff at 1,920 Metro and Express stores.
From August 24 employees will have to clean their own break rooms and toilets, The Guardian reports.
They will also have to mop floors and wipe down windows, shelves and fridges.
The change has not been universally welcomed by Tesco staff.
“Like it or not there is still a stigma around being a cleaner," one employee told The Guardian.
"It’s a big ask when you have been busting a gut on the checkout or filling shelves to have to do this as well."
They went on to express concerns that staff would not have enough time to clean properly due to other pressures.
Another worker told the publication that staff felt "stabbed in the back" having worked throughout the pandemic.
They added: “Tesco are trying to cut costs and it stinks."
A former Tesco employee suggested that the changes may actually benefit workers and the cleanliness of stores.
He wrote on Twitter : "Tesco colleagues have always cleaned shop-floor fridges and shelves.
"I worked in an Express for three years and we were regularly v frustrated with the cleaning contractor performance and wanted the hours to do it in-house, but couldn't."
Tesco has said that the budgets of those shops affected will be increased to give employees more time to clean.
A spokesperson added: “For our customers and colleagues alike, the cleanliness of our stores has never been more important.
"Currently we use third-party suppliers for cleaning. Following a successful trial, we have found that giving our stores more ownership and control over their cleaning results in better and more consistent standards.
"We will now roll this out to all our Express stores and Convenience Metro stores.”
They said that staff will be trained on how to perform their new tasks, while specialist cleaning will still be contracted out.
Work will be split between employees, who will not be forced to carry out any task they do not want to do.
The timing of the change, which comes amid a pandemic in which hygiene standards have been raised significantly across the UK, has raised some eyebrows.
One man wrote on Twitter: "Well @Tesco this is a rather bizarre move, seems like during the Covid-19 crisis you'd almost want to protect staff at a greater by creating increased cleaning rotas to remove any possible contamination."
Tesco was contacted for further comment.
