Sports Direct has said it will offer casual retail staff guaranteed hours instead of zero-hours contracts and ensure all warehouse staff are paid above the national minimum wage following a review into working practices at the retailer. The announcement came after the Guardian exposed how temporary workers at its depots were receiving effective hourly rates of pay below the minimum wage. The company’s board has requested the suspension of a “six strikes” policy at the warehouse, which penalised workers for minor infringements and left them fearful for their jobs. The report said the practice was “potentially oppressive”.Sports Direct promised to investigate its working practices after the Guardian’s undercover reports of conditions inside its warehouses. The subsequent report by RPC, a City law firm, found “serious shortcomings” at the company’s Shirebrook warehouse in Derbyshire. It said the board “deeply regrets and apologises for” the problems, which the Guardian revealed last year.