General election: parties commit to stronger laws on retail crime
After many years of tireless campaigning by Usdaw, the shopworkers’ union, both Labour and the Conservatives have committed to taking stronger action on violence and crime against retail workers.
In recent months, Labour has committed to making assault of retail workers a standalone criminal offence, and to put more uniformed officers and PCSOs on high streets, ensuring incidents are dealt with on the spot.
In April, the Conservative government also announced plans to make assault of retail workers a specific offence, although the legislation wasn’t introduced before the dissolution of parliament for the election.
Under those plans, perpetrators would face a maximum sentence of six months and an unlimited fine. Serial offenders could be banned from the businesses where they committed their offences or be required to wear tags to track their movements. The government also promised £50m of investment in facial recognition technology, which will be used on high streets to identify repeat offenders.
The announcement represented a significant change of direction for the government, which previously resisted Usdaw’s calls for action, saying that new legal protections weren’t required.
It’s a credit to Usdaw’s campaigning, supported by Accord, that both major parties now recognise the need for action on retail crime. Whoever ends up in government, Accord will work to ensure that new legislation and policing measures also protect our members.
A worsening picture
Unions and industry groups have consistently warned that the level of abuse and crime against front-of-house workers is increasing over time.
In its most recent survey of retail workers, Usdaw found that in 2023, 7 in 10 had experienced verbal abuse, nearly half had experienced threats of violence and nearly 1 in 5 had experienced physical assault.
Earlier this year, a British Retail Consortium (BRC) report found that violent and abusive incidents against shopworkers had increased 50% between 2021/22 and 2022/23, from 870 incidents per day to 1,300.
Responding to the government’s plans, BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said:
“The impact of retail violence has steadily worsened, with people facing racial abuse, sexual harassment, threatening behaviour, physical assault and threats with weapons, often linked to organised crime. Victims are ordinary hardworking people – teenagers taking on their first job, carers looking for part-time work, parents working around childcare. This announcement sends a clear message that abusive behaviour will not be tolerated and it is vital the police use this new legislation to step up their response to incidents.”
Tackling abuse in banking
At Accord, we know that while the majority of bank customers are decent and respectful, abusive behaviour is a concern for many of our members, both in branches and telephony. Colleagues have reported that this kind of harassment has increased in recent years, in the context of the Covid regulations, reduced staffing levels and branch closures.
We hope and expect that the new government’s policies will offer increased protection to our members. But we will also continue to work with members and their employers to develop specific measures and protections for our members.
Accord has been involved in security discussions which have led to the piloting or introduction of various measures, including increased security, zero tolerance signage, optional bodycams to be worn by staff, and enhanced training for both staff and managers.
These discussions also included streamlining the processes for reporting incidents and empowering senior team managers to close offenders’ accounts, with specialist support available for more complex cases. The three-warning rule for customers is being eliminated since call listening reveals this prolongs colleague exposure to abuse. And managers and senior team managers now have the authority to adopt a zero-tolerance stance when addressing colleague reports of abuse.
In addition, we have requested that fixed, secure screens are installed where appropriate and security guards are more readily available for branches with known problems. We also report back to the bank any security issues highlighted by our members
Our position is clear: no one should have to face violent or threatening behaviour at work. Members who experience abusive behaviour or violence should always report it. This will allow unions and the employers to understand the scale of the problem and respond appropriately.
