DISCUSSION
Are retail associates ready to deal with abusive customers?
Written by RetailWire Staff
Any job dealing with the public can be a tough gig, but retail employees are experiencing treatment from customers that veers into the territory of abuse with an alarming frequency, according to a recent article in The Age.
In the article, retail workers in Australia told stories of being spit on and yelled at by angry customers. One retail manager said that since he has been dealing with refunds and loss prevention, people have gone as far as to throw things at him and threaten him with a knife.
Employee anecdotes are bolstered by a study by the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association, which represents retail and fast food workers, indicating that of the 6,000 members polled nationally, 44.4 percent had been abused physically or verbally by a customer. The organization has launched a campaign to encourage customers to remain calm when interacting with retail employees.
The internet is littered with personal anecdotes and news stories about retail workers outside of Australia facing down abusive and violent customers, especially in the context of attempting to confront shoplifters. In a 2013 post on one forum, an employee seeking retail management work expressed concern that being attacked and forced to defend oneself could result in the manager being fired. An online legal resource confirms that this is often the path of least resistance for an employer to avoid legal liability.
A U.K. government organization called Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released a document called Preventing Violence to Retail Staff, to address the issue of customer abuse, the first version of which was released in 1995.
The OSHA website reports that nearly two million workers in the U.S. each year report having been the victim of workplace violence, but does not split out statistics on employees who are victims of attacks or abuse by customers. It does, however, note that working with roles in which employees exchange money with the public increases the probability that an employee will be the victim of workplace violence.