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Calls are being made to protect retail staff from abuse
- Credit: Submitted
Shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw is joining with the British Retail Consortium in calling for government action to stem a growing tide of violence and abuse against shopworkers.
The BRC Annual Retail Crime Survey, released last week, shows that violence and abuse against shopworkers continues to grow to 455 incidents every day, which represents a seven per cent increase on the previous year.
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, said: “This BRC survey is further confirmation of the scale of the problem retail staff face on a daily basis and backs up the findings in Usdaw’s latest research. It has been a terrible time for our members, with almost 90 per cent of shopworkers suffering abuse, two-thirds threatened and nearly one in ten assaulted. Retail workers, their friends, family and loved ones, are saying loud and clear that enough is enough, abuse should never be just a part of the job.
Viewpoint: face covering regulations talkingretail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from talkingretail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
When it comes to enforcing the wearing of face coverings, the position is a particularly difficult topic. This is not because the law is unclear – far from it. The law clearly states that you and I, as customers, must wear a face covering when inside a shop. It is also abundantly clear that this is enforced by the police and local authorities. Despite what you hear, there is also not a word about retailer enforcement in sight.
Therefore, it is laudable that the retailers have stepped up and taken on more responsibility than they are legally required to. However, doing the right thing is not easy and there is a long list of reasonable excuses for not wearing a face covering, which means the situation is far from binary. That list starts with reasons of physical and mental illness or impairment or disability, and then moves on to an even broader exemption, where wearing a face covering would cause severe distress. In most cases these issues would not be visually obvious.