Retail workers suffer abuse

Retail staff are being urged to report incidents of abuse, threats and assaults after an Usdaw shopworkers’ union survey found that nine in 10 Scottish retail staff are suffering abuse from customers, two-thirds have been threatened and 12% assaulted.

The union was marking the first anniversary of the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021, which provided a new specific offence for assaulting, threatening, or abusing a shopworker, and a harsher sentence if they were enforcing a statutory age restriction.

By the end of March 2022, according to Police Scotland, nearly 2,000 crimes had been recorded under the new Act.

But Usdaw Scotland regional secretary Tracy Gilbert said more still needed to be done to encourage incident reporting. It was “extremely worrying” that nearly two-thirds of Scottish shopworkers are not confident that reporting these issues will make any difference, she said.

The union is working with employers to make it easier for staff to report attacks and abuse, highlighting the new law to improve confidence, backed up with training, and promoting the importance of reporting all incidents.

Gilbert also called for better coordination between retail employers, police and the courts to make stores safer and give staff the support and confidence they need.