Shop workers' abuse has 'increased since Covid restrictions ended'

Most shop workers believe the lifting of Covid restrictions on July 19 had exacerbated, not diminished, the level of harassment, stated a report on Thursday (9), which also identified stock shortage as one of the main reasons of confrontations.

As per a study by Foot Anstey, about 52 per cent of shop workers said they had seen a rise in aggressive behaviour from customers when enforcing their store’s Covid safety measures after Freedom Day.

Half of respondents (50 per cent) noted a rise in harassment during the pandemic (versus 42 per cent who did not), and of that group 95 per cent had seen a rise in verbal harassment, one in five (20 per cent) physical harassment, and 5 per cent sexual harassment within their working environment, as per the studies’ findings based on the survey of 1,048 shop workers.

Apart from dispute over Covid norms, stock shortage also emerged as one of the main causes of dispute.

The respondents identified masks (57 per cent), social distancing (45 per cent), limits on customer numbers in-store (38 per cent) and stock shortages (36 per cent) as the main causes of confrontation.

Nearly three-quarters of shopworkers (72 per cent) agreed having Covid safety measures in stores made them feel safer, said the report almost two-thirds of shop workers wanted to see masks (65 per cent), protective screens (65 per cent) and social distancing (64 per cent) remain in place for the foreseeable future.

The survey findings follows an open letter in July calling for greater legal protection for retail workers, which was signed by the leaders of 100 retailers, including Ikea, Sainsbury's and Tesco, and organised by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Nathan Peacey, Partner and Head of Retail and Consumer at Foot Anstey said that creating safe places to work and shop is a key theme for retailers, and “we have seen them increase the pressure on 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 news ones brought in, to support retailers' own protocols, guidance and response measures and support those on the retail frontline feel safer and supported,” Peacey said.

The findings comes as the government indicated it will not be introducing a specific offence of assaulting shop workers, because it believes existing laws on violence and assaults are sufficient.