Protect workers from customers who threaten to cough over them, Co-op tells Government

The retailer, which has more than 260 stores across 16 counties, is joining forces with co-operatives up and down the country in a plea to protect its workers in the face of a continued spike in cases of threats and physical abuse.

The Co-op said: "New figures have seen assaults jump by 100%, threats and intimidation by 25% and verbal abuse by 175% since the start of the year, and since the lockdown was introduced, there have been over 100 incidents related directly to people using COVID-19 as a threat.

"Some examples of incidents have included multiple threats by customers to cough on colleagues and ‘give them Coronavirus’ and further threats of assaults because people have had to queue to enter stores, social distance or simply because they do not have a specific product."

"The society has long campaigned for the Government to change legislation so shop workers are afforded greater protection in carrying out those public duties and today are saying more needs to be done now to protect these critical workers and to curb a potential crime epidemic."

Debbie Robinson, Central England Co-op Chief Executive, said: “These uncertain times have brought to the fore how our colleagues in stores are key workers and critical to all of our everyday lives.

“However, despite this, we continue to see rise upon rise of incidents where our colleagues are verbally threatened or even worse physically abused just for doing the job – something that has only risen during the Coronavirus outbreak.

“Today we tell people this is not acceptable, and we will not tolerate any kind of abuse to our colleagues and we also urge the Government to work harder to recognise the people itself has recognised as being of vital importance to our daily lives.

“Their amazing contribution now needs to be recognised by a change in law so anyone who takes the decision to cross the line with our colleagues knows that retail crime is taken seriously.

“I would hope their status in society will now be permanently elevated and I am redoubling my efforts in lobbying for a change in sentencing law to ensure those who choose to attack our colleagues are held accountable for their actions on the same level as other frontline workers.

“This is not just a Central England Co-op problem, it is an industry-wide problem, and this is why we come together today to say we need change and we need it now.”

As part of this plea today, the retailer is building awareness and support for MP Alex Norris’ Assault on Shop Workers Bill which has seen its second reading in Parliament postponed. It states that because shop workers have responsibilities to uphold the law on age restricted products, they should be afforded greater protection in carrying out those public duties.

Over the past three years, Central England Co-op has invested heavily in measures to protect staff including fitting stores with external motion detectors and a centrally monitored CCTV system.

These measures sit alongside a range of others such as product GPS trackers, additional ATM anchors, gas suppression systems and cash controls.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is utterly unacceptable for shop workers to experience violence and abusive behaviour at any time and such offences should always be reported to the police for investigation – they will be taken seriously.

“We intend to publish the findings of our Call for Evidence on this issue soon and will continue to work with the British Retail Consortium and other partners to drive down these crimes.”

In addition to launching the call for evidence, the Home Office has also provided £60,000 of Home Office funding to the Association of Convenience Stores to run a communications campaign to help prevent these crimes by raising awareness among the public and retail staff themselves.

It has also provided £1 million of funding over three years for the police-led National Business Crime Centre, which is working to improve communication between police forces on business crime, promote training and advice, and help identify national and local trends.

The spokesman said the Home Office had also delivered a package of additional support and guidance for staff and retailers, including guidance for retailers to use when reporting violent incidents to the police and guidance on Impact Statements for Business, which give businesses a voice in the criminal justice process;

"The National Retail Crime Steering Group brings government, police and industry together to improve the response to crimes affecting the sector, including assaults and theft."

"The Sentencing Council is also in the process of revising sentencing guidelines around assault."

The Sentencing Council also published interim guidance in April 2020, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. This clarifies that, when sentencing common assault offences involving threats or activity relating to transmission of Covid-19 (eg spitting or coughing), courts should treat this as an aggravating feature.

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