RETAIL chiefs across Scotland have condemned “utterly deplorable” abuse shop workers throughout the pandemic.
A British Retail Consortium (BRC) survey found incidents of violence and abuse almost tripled from 455 per day in 2019/20 to 1 301 in 2020/21.
The BRC said the increase was concentrated in a significantly reduced number of stores and retail operations as many were forced to close due to Covid restrictions.
The Scottish Retail Consortium’s Ewan MacDonald-Russell said: “The level of abuse and violence directed towards shopworkers in the first year of the pandemic was utterly deplorable.
“Whilst Scottish shop workers were keeping the country fed and supplied during the pandemic, they faced over 100 incidents of shopworker abuse every day.
“It underlines why Scotland’s retailers campaigned so strongly for the introduction of the shopworker protection legislation which came into force in August 2021.”
That law made it a specific offence to threaten or abuse retail staff although the BRC said it understands from Police Scotland that in the first six months 1 655 incidents were reported under the new legislation, with 958 sent onto prosecutors for action.
The BRC crime survey covers the period from April 1 2020 to March 31 2021 and found that for every 1 000 employees there were 155 incidents, meaning more than 15% of the workforce suffered some form of harassment.
MacDonald-Russell added: “Far too often the skilled and passionate store employees who help make our retail industry such a vibrant place to work face unacceptable abuse, intimidation or worse whilst serving the community.
“It comes despite record spending by retailers on crime prevention.”
The survey also showed there were 21 incidents a day of violence with injury and 104 a day of violence without injury.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “These figures make particularly grim reading as they came at the height of the pandemic when the ‘hidden heroes’ of retail were working tirelessly to look after customers, keep shelves stocked and ensure orders were fulfilled.
“It is shocking that this huge rise in incidents took place in a smaller pool of stores and other locations as much of the industry was in lockdown.
“As our colleagues implemented Covid safety measures to keep the public safe, too many were met with hostility, abuse threats and assault.”
