Retail staff report a rise in abuse from customers

South West shop workers have been abused verbally, physically or sexually, with much of the harassment due to Covidrelated issues including empty shelves, a new survey shows.

The study, by law firm Foot Anstey LLP, says many retail staff believed the easing of Covid restrictions on July 19’s so-called “freedom day” only made the level of harassment worse.

Shop workers around the nation identified masks (57%), social distancing (45%), limits on customer numbers in store (38%) and stock shortages (36%) as the main causes of confrontation with shoppers.

Additionally, the majority (52%) believed enforcing their employer’s Covid safety measures after “freedom day” resulted in a rise of aggressive behaviour; and only 21% did not.

In the South West, 52% of those surveyed said they had seen a rise in harassment from customers due to Covid-19.

Foot Anstey – which has offices in Bristol, Exeter, London, Plymouth, Southampton, Taunton and

Truro – surveyed 1,048 shop workers across the country, and found 61% had experienced some form of offensive behaviour while at work, leading to complaints this caused stress (for 45% of the workers), anxiety (43%) and a loss of self-esteem (19%).

The figures were broken down regionally too, and revealed that in the South West, 52% of those surveyed said they had heard language of a sexual, racist, homophobic or otherwise offensive nature.

Also, 28% said they had experienced unwanted touching or hugging, and 13% had experienced inappropriate touching of a sexual nature.

Violence was a problem too, with 33% of those surveyed in the South West saying they had experienced physically aggressive or violent behaviour.

This all led to 39% of those surveyed in the South West saying the behaviour of customers had resulted in an impact on their stress levels.

The survey findings follows an open letter in July calling for greater legal protection for shop workers, which was signed by the leaders of 100 retailers, including Ikea, Sainsbury’s

and Tesco, and organised by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Foot Anstey’s new study supports the suggestion of a need for greater protection.

Half of respondents nationally noted a rise in harassment during the Covid pandemic (versus 42% who did not), and of that group 95% had seen a rise in verbal harassment, one in five (20%) physical harassment, and 5% sexual harassment within their working environment.

However, nearly three-quarters of shopworkers (72%) agreed having Covid safety measures in stores made them feel safer, versus just 10% who did not.

Almost two-thirds of shop workers wanted to see masks (65%), protective screens (65%) and social distancing (64%) remain in place for the foreseeable future, and 37% wanted a continued limit on numbers in-store, highlighting retail workers’ unease at going back to pre-pandemic working environments and the need to strengthen protection for retail workers.

Nathan Peacey, partner and head of retail and consumer at Foot Anstey, said: “Our 2021 study paints an unpleasant picture of the experiences of many retail workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It is concerning to see that the majority of these key workers faced physical, sexual or verbal harassment as they went about their daily work, and that significant numbers experienced mental health issues as a direct result.

“Creating safe places to work and shop is a key theme for retailers, and we have seen them increase the pressure on the Government to take effective steps, whilst doubling down on their own efforts to look after their people.

“Retail workers told us they felt there were not enough laws in place to protect them. It is essential that existing laws are enforced, or new ones brought in, to support retailers’ own protocols, guidance and response measures and support those on the retail frontline to feel safer and supported.”

Workers felt there weren’t enough laws to protect them