‘Why all retail staff must now be offered training against insults, threats and attacks’

A law ordering all retail employers to train staff on how to de-escalate and protect themselves against violence and abuse has been introduced in New York this month.

The new Retail Worker Safety Act enforces retailers with more than 50 employees to train their staff annually on how to respond to threats and aggression, following rising levels of vile behaviour in shops and other public spaces on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the UK, 80% of retail staff have told the Retail Trust they have been verbally or physically assaulted at work, and one in three face this abuse every week.

The emotional impact alone is having a devastating effect on the shop workers and delivery drivers calling our helpline every day. People tell us they have been threatened, shouted and spat on, and had products smashed up in front of them. Others have even been followed home and hit around the head with metal shopping baskets.

Two-thirds say they feel stressed and anxious going to work as a result, and nearly half feel unsafe while there. 39% are looking to quit their jobs or the industry altogether.

We all need to work together to respect retail

Nearly three years ago, we launched the Retail Trust’s respect retail campaign to help retailers manage this issue following the huge spike in incidents coming out of the pandemic. One of our aims was simply to raise much wider awareness among those who could make a difference and join forces with the likes of the BRC and Usdaw, who have been lobbying for more action from the UK government to support staff.

Now, Labour is looking to bring in new measures against those who assault retail workers, and harsher penalties for shoplifting items worth less than £200, as part of the new Crime and Policing Bill that was first put before Parliament in February. And this certainly looks set to lead to much-needed shifts in how these criminal incidents are handled by the police once the new law comes into effect.

But on its own, I’m genuinely afraid that it will still do little to lessen the impact of what I’ve heard described as ‘everyday’ levels of abuse, which can include everything from disrespectful signs of impatience to unacceptable outbursts and full-blown assaults.

No one should ever be expected to endure this behaviour simply for doing their job, yet retail workers are increasingly left having to deal with it. Both in the moment and in the aftermath, when these incidents can have a terrible and long-term impact on someone’s state of mind.

The BRC estimates that the industry was forced to spend 50% more on retail crime measures last year, such as more security personnel, CCTV and body-worn cameras, which shows how seriously retailers are taking this. And ensuring retailers have the right wellbeing support in place to help their staff through this is as important as putting in place these kind of safety measures and properly enforcing and resourcing the police to tackle the most serious incidents.

Half of workers say their employers need to do more

However, half of the people we’ve spoken to said they think their employers need to do more to deal with the current levels of abuse and violence at work, while a quarter don’t report incidents to their bosses. Among those who felt unsupported, the number who also feel unsafe rose to as high as three-quarters of employees.

That’s why another aim of our respect retail campaign has been to better protect people facing this abuse and this is something we continue to focus on, with thousands already put through our training on how to de-escalate retail abuse and violence.

Now, hundreds more have registered to take part in free training we’ll be running for retail workers across the country at the end of this month. Across three online sessions, run in partnership with retail technology provider Sensormatic Solutions, we’ll be teaching people how to safely de-escalate these situations and prioritise their mental health and recovery.

Our research found the likelihood of people wanting to quit their job falls by as much as 60% if they get this kind of support from their employer, which shows that staff better prepared to deal with the threat of abuse also feel much safer and happier at work.

So, while we’re unlikely to see New York’s mandatory staff training measures come into play on this side of the Atlantic soon, we don’t have to wait for this before making shop workers and delivery drivers feel safer right now.

The free training is being run online on June 24, 25 and 26. You can register by visiting retailtrust.org.uk/respect.