Retail workers need greater protection from abuse, threats of violence and assault. That is the conclusion from the Home Affairs Committee report this week on violence and abuse against retail workers, and what we at Tesco are campaigning for. 

Tesco staff interacting with a customer

In the last two years, the number of incidents of abuse towards Tesco colleagues has increased by over 40%

In the three months to May 2021, we recorded nearly 7,000 individual incidents. For colleagues in-store, this behaviour occurs regularly and with little consequence for offenders. 

This is not acceptable. We must not let it go on.

As a business, we are doing all we can to protect our colleagues and make them feel safe. We have increased security at our stores, introduced body cameras for shop floor and security colleagues and installed remote-control door access in our convenience stores to give our colleagues more control. We have also provided headsets to help colleagues communicate quickly with each other.

The reality is far worse than figures suggest

These measures are helping, but there is still a fundamental issue: offences towards retail workers are not taken seriously enough. Far too often, incidents of abuse are left unreported and offenders are not identified. 

We need a change in the law to help our colleagues feel more protected and make any potential offender think twice.

Houses of Parliament at night

As Parliament continues to debate this important issue, we asked our colleagues to write to their local MPs and share their experiences. 

In the last month, more than 360 MPs – over half of all Parliamentarians - received contact from a Tesco colleague, asking for their help in deterring retail abuse and helping them feel safe at work. 

We welcome the findings of the Home Affairs Committee report, which recognises the scale of an issue that has become increasingly serious

“Now there is an opportunity to help retail workers feel safer at work”

We support the recommendations for improved reporting and responding to incidents and are ready to work with local police and the Government on any initiatives that offer increased protection to our colleagues. 

Most importantly, we fully support the conclusion that “there is a strong case for extra protection in law for retail workers through a specific offence”.

Parliament now has the opportunity to take action and make this a reality. 

Tesco staff

On Monday July 5, MPs will debate the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

On behalf of our colleagues, we urge MPs to support an amendment to the Bill that would make it a specific offence to act violently towards, abuse or threaten a retail worker while they carry out their daily job.

A similar bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament earlier in 2021 that enshrined protections for shopworkers in law and made it a specific offence to assault, abuse or threaten retail staff. We know that these protections can be introduced, and we hope that MPs will extend these protections to our store colleagues in England and Wales.

Throughout the pandemic, our colleagues worked harder than ever to support customers and make sure they felt safe while shopping in stores. The commitment, dedication and selflessness shown by retail colleagues this year has been widely acknowledged and appreciated.

And now, there is an opportunity to help retail workers feel safer at work and offer them the protection they need to do their job without abuse or violence of any kind. 

We urge MPs to support this campaign and deliver greater protections for all retail workers.