New law aims to protect shop staff from attacks

Shop workers in Scotland are being urged to report attacks and incidents of abuse as new legislation aimed at protecting them comes into force.

Union bosses at Usdaw made the plea as a survey revealed a fifth of retail workers who suffer such attacks do not inform their employers.

Usdaw also revealed details of some of the “heartbreaking” testimonies it has received from staff as part of a survey into the problem.

An Usdaw survey, released during the union’s Freedom from Fear campaign week, found in the last 12 months 92% of retail staff have experienced verbal abuse, with 70% threatened by a customer.

A total of 14% of shop staff have been physically assaulted in the last year, the UK-wide survey of almost 2,000 workers revealed.

One in five have never reported the abuse to their employer, the survey added, with this including 5% of those who had been assaulted.

The figures were revealed as a new law improving protection for shop workers in Scotland comes into force.

The legislation, the result of a Member’s Bill by Labour’s Daniel Johnson, makes it a specific offence to assault, abuse or threaten retail staff.

If such an attack takes place while the perpetrator is trying to buy agerestricted products – such as alcohol or cigarettes – that would be an aggravating factor which could then result in the offence being treated more seriously by the courts.

Shop workers have complained to Usdaw about the impact coronavirus restrictions have had, with one union member in the Highlands and Islands saying “social distancing and mask wearing have resulted in confrontations that have got particularly aggressive”.

A retail worker reported: “I have had someone throw their shopping at me when I have asked to stay two metres away.”

Another employee in the Lothians area said: “Multiple times I’ve had stuff thrown at me.”

A worker in the south of Scotland said the abuse they had received included being “sworn at, spat at, kicked at, punched at, eggs thrown at me”.

One employee who asked a customer to follow social distancing guidelines said they “got an absolute mouthful” with the man in question saying he “knew better as he was a doctor”.

One Glasgow worker reported they had “had a bottle held over my head” while working on a till, adding they had also been “called a rat and been warned to watch myself walking home at night”.

Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis said: “Our latest survey results clearly show the scale of the appalling violence, threats and abuse faced by shop workers and demonstrate why the Scottish Parliament was right to pass a ‘protection of shop workers’ law. It has been a terrible year for our members, with over 90% of shop workers suffering abuse, more than two-thirds threatened and one in seven assaulted.”

Mr Lillis called on the UK Government to follow Holyrood’s example and introduce legislation to protect retail workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Tracy Gilbert, Usdaw’s Scottish regional secretary, said: “For this new legislation to have a real impact, we need to make sure staff report incidents of violence, threats or abuse to their manager.”

Dr John Lee, head of policy at the Scottish Grocers’ Federation, said: By reporting every incident to police, those responsible will get the message loud and clear that we will not put up with this.”