Calls For Specific Legislation Grow As Retail Violence Increases

We examine the annual BRC surveys findings and consider the implications for retailers and their employees.

Amidst increasingly strident calls by retailers to curb the levels of abuse and physical violence experienced by their employees, we examine whether England and Wales should follow Scotland's path in creating a specific offence for those abusing or assaulting retail workers

Rising levels of retail violence

Although the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have published no summary statistics concerning violence in the workplace for the past three years, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) publishes a comprehensive, annual crime survey.

The 2023 survey covered the period 2021 and 2022 and revealed episodes of violence and abuse had risen to 867 incidents on average a day – from 450 a day in 2019 with incidents of violence with injury averaging 29 each day.