Retail trade union Usdaw has marked the fourth anniversary of Scotland’s Protection of Workers legislation by urging shop staff to report incidents of abuse, violence and threats.
The Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act came into force on 24 August 2021.
It created a specific offence for assaulting, threatening or abusing any retail worker, with a harsher sentence if they were enforcing a statutory age restriction.
The legislation was introduced following Usdaw’s ‘Freedom from Fear’ campaign, developed in partnership with Scottish politicians, employers and other organisations.
Since the law came into effect, there have been 7,861 police recorded incidents of common assault of a retail worker, according to Police Scotland.
Usdaw said it is working with retailers, the Scottish Government and Police Scotland to help ensure the legislation is fully utilised.
Similar legislation is making its way through Parliament in England and Wales as part of the Crime and Policing Bill.
The measure introduced in the Bill would create a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker and is intended to “protect staff, measure the scale of the problem and drive down retail crime”, said the UK government.
Tony Doonan, Usdaw regional secretary for Scotland, said: “Scottish retail workers suffer far too many incidents of violence, abuse and threats. No one should feel afraid to go to work, but far too many retail workers are.”
Joanne Thomas, Usdaw general secretary, said: “The groundbreaking protection of worker legislation that came into force in Scotland was an important step forward and has inspired similar moves in Westminster for England and Wales, and Stormont for Northern Ireland.
“We still need to encourage incident reporting and Usdaw is working with employers to make it easier for staff to report attacks and abuse, highlighting the legislation to improve confidence, backed up with training, and promoting the importance of reporting all incidents.”
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