A few footages have gone viral, where customers at departmental shops are seen abusing the shopkeepers. Research has found out that 1 in 5 customers have abused a shopkeeper in the past eight months. Anika Khan reports.
It has come to the limelight that shop keepers need better legislation to protect themselves from these attacks. After the Co-op revealed shocking reports, campaigners have been demanding to provide the shop keepers with better protection.
Most of the people working as retail staff have been providing the nation with essential service during the global pandemic. Despite this there has been a rise in aggression and abusive behavior recorded towards them.
The reports have revealed that 1 in 4 frontline shop workers have received a form of violence which sums up to an average of 730 cases a day. This is mostly due to the frustrations of panic buying and mandatory social distance measures imposed which caused the customers to lash out at the shop staffs.
Labour MP Alex Norris’s bill on assaults on Retail worker is likely to hear its second hearing next year. Norris condemns the increased prevalence of abuse and demands better protection for these retail employees who despite the pandemic are working in the front line and making the wheels turn.
He said, “Covid-19 has stopped my important Bill to protect these workers, but the government can act anyway and should do.”
The shop keepers, retail workers and campaigners are calling Boris to legislate stiffer penalties for those who abuse and assault the shop workers.
