100 UK retailers call for new laws to combat retail violence

The government has been urged to introduce new laws to tackle increasing violence and abuse against retail workers by 100 of the UK’s top retailers.

In a joint letter, the companies have called on prime minister Boris Johnson to support an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to tackle the issue.

The bill has its report stage and third reading in Parliament on Monday.

It comes after a Home Affairs Select Committee report last week concluded that a new criminal offence is needed to protect retail workers from a “shocking upsurge in violence and abuse”.

According to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) most recent crime survey, there was a 7 percent year-on-year increase in incidents of violence and abuse in 2019, with 455 cases each day.

Meanwhile, recent research by retailers shows that the rate of incidents has risen even further during the pandemic.

One business reported a 76 percent increase in abuse and a 10 percent increase in violent attacks during the pandemic, of which over half involved a weapon. Many staff had also been coughed or spat at.

“The time for action is now. We need to see the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill deliver better protection for our colleagues,” said BRC CEO Helen Dickinson in a statement.

BRC said its members want to see workers in England and Wales offered the same protection as those in Scotland, where Daniel Johnson MSP’s Protection of Workers Bill became law earlier this year.

“Retailer workers are facing violence and abuse every day just for doing their jobs - keeping customers safe during the pandemic, checking ID, and confronting shoplifters,” Dickinson said.

“Behind each of these statistics is a person, a family, colleagues and communities that have to cope with this trauma. No-one should go to work fearing for their safety, yet many retail workers have come to see it as part of the job - this can’t go on.”