Latest news with #customerabuse
Forbes
06-08-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Tackling The Epidemic Of Violence And Abuse Against Service Workers
There is a growing and uncomfortable issue that we as a society need to address. It's something that impacts some of our most important customer service workers, from those working in retail outlets and hospitality, to employees manning call centers and social media channels, right through to those coming into our homes and working in our public spaces. This issue is the rising levels of abuse, insults, intimidation, threats and physical violence that is fast becoming a normal part of working life. Violence and abuse - the scale of the problem In North America, 75% of workers report being impacted by workplace violence. Meanwhile, in the UK, data from the Institute of Customer Service shows that 42% of customer-facing workers experienced customer abuse and hostility in the past six months, up nearly 20% year-on-year. This is despite many working long hours and dedicating their lives to making sure our homes, stores, third spaces, transport systems, and infrastructure run smoothly, efficiently and are welcoming spaces for the community. This is a societal problem being faced on a global scale and is having a devastating impact not only on a personal level, but also on businesses and public services – and in turn on economies. Distress To Individuals These incidents cause deep and lasting distress to millions of individuals and can lead to increased stress, burnout, anxiety, and fear. There is a clear correlation between being the victim of hostility and suffering from negative mental health or even physical health. According to a study by the European Foundation for Improvement of Living and Working Conditions across 36 countries, people who experience adverse social behavior in the workplace are around three times more likely to experience physical and emotional burnout and almost twice as likely to suffer from anxiety or be at risk of depression. The data from The Institute shows that nearly 40% of people who work in customer facing roles are considering quitting because of the abuse they receive. Furthermore, 26% of those facing abuse have taken time off work of because of the physical or psychological abuse they have experienced. Through this research, we have heard extreme examples such as service workers being spat on, having drinks thrown on them, being physically pushed and kicked, and receiving extreme verbal, racist, and homophobic abuse. This shows that these incidents aren't causing deep distress to individuals, but have a wider impact on workplace morale, staff turnover and business productivity. Addressing The Customer Abuse Issue Despite the clear impact this is having in individuals and organisations, I am deeply concerned that the issue isn't being properly addressed. In the UK, 44% of those who took part in the Institute's Service with Respect survey say their employer has no clear procedures for reporting customer abuse. This suggests a concerning disconnect between some employers and their staff, and that workers in these situations have little faith the abusers will be banned or sanctioned by their employers. There is a strong need to recognize the seriousness of the situation, demonstrate a duty of care and act decisively to put in place compassionate and deterrent led measures to address the issue, including having clear reporting systems, banning offenders or excluding them from organisations, and training staff and management to know how to deal with incidents of abuse and provide compassionate and effective support for colleagues. However, this isn't an issue that businesses can solve alone. It needs the combined efforts and backing of law enforcement and law makers too. Surprisingly , in many countries including the US, standalone laws against abuse of customer service workers don't exist and there is little that authorities can do to hold perpetrators to account unless incidents become physically violent or there is repeated harassment. In many instances, there is a complicated patchwork of protections that varies country by country, even state by state with the onus often falling on employers, rather than on law enforcement to address the issue. That being said, we are seeing long overdue progress in some areas. Driven by spikes in incidents, especially since the pandemic, lawmakers are now playing catch up and introducing specific laws for abuse of workers to punish offenders. For instance in the UK, assaults on retail workers are set to be made a standalone offence under the new Crime and Policing Bill. In 2021 in Germany, their criminal code was updated to provide protections for public sector staff or those working for public services, but it didn't extend to protect private sector workers, such as those who work in retail or other service organisations. Whilst these more specific laws demonstrate progress, they are still stopping short of providing adequate protections for all customer service workers. The UK's Crime and Policing Bill only goes halfway to solving the issue by singling out retail workers, but neglecting all other groups which make up the majority of customer service roles in the country. In Germany, the opposite issue is the case, and legislation misses protections for those working in retail, along with other private workplaces like call centers, restaurants and banks. These attempts to tackle the issue means we are missing opportunities to stop this epidemic from spreading and can appear to be not fully thought through. Respect Goes Both Ways We should not be excusing or ignoring the real, prevalent issue of poor customer service. Respect goes both ways, and customers should expect well-trained, empowered colleagues supported by the leaders, systems and safeguards they need to serve customer well. Indeed, all these things help to reduce customer frustration. There is a big difference, however, between the legitimate annoyance you might feel as a customer who has received poor experience, and allowing that irritation to tip over in abuse or violence. Frontline workers need protecting alongside service levels improving. This isn't just a case of a small number of isolated incidents, but a concerning global trend impacting every sector – from retail to transport and infrastructure, right through to financial services, hospitality, and utilities – that threatens mental wellbeing and health of people globally, as well as having a significant impact on business's bottom lines. This should be particularly concerning when many global economies are facing sluggish growth and low productivity. To address it, we need public and private sector leaders to work together, recognize the role they can play and act to introduce the robust deterrents and protections needed and work to foster a culture of respect, understanding and appreciation for the customer service workers we interact with every day.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stock taken off shelves to stop 'brazen' thieves
A shop manager said he has been forced to take stock off shelves to prevent it being stolen by "brazen" shoplifters. Gareth Robbins, who manages Poundland in Southgate Street, Gloucester, said thieves came in "every day" and filled bags, with staff suffering verbal abuse and racist remarks if they challenged the culprits. Mr Robbins said high price lines, such as Duracell batteries and Lynx deodorants, were favoured by shoplifters. He said he and his staff employed defensive merchandising, meaning they lowered shelves, changed the location of desirable items within the store, or put one case of an item out at a time. More news stories for Gloucestershire Listen to the latest news for Gloucestershire "You ask [shoplifters] to take things out of their bag and you get verbally abused, racist remarks," he said. "I tell the staff not to stop them because quite a few of them are gentlemen and of large stature - we don't know what could be in their bags." Earlier this year, two women worked together to steal a pair of leggings from Kate Lancaster's shop. While it was of small financial impact, Ms Lancaster, who owns Bizarre on Westgate Street, said it all built up. "People can be quite unkind or belittling to staff members which is really not necessary when they're only there to try and help people," she said. In response to the abuse received by shop staff, Gloucester Business Improvement District (BID) has been supporting ShopKind Week, a national campaign calling for kindness and respect to retail employees. "I think if [the scheme] brings awareness, people will, hopefully, stop and think that these people are human, they're not just automatous," Ms Lancaster added. Emily Gibbon, BID manager, said shoppers' impatience has increased, but "just being polite" and "a smile goes a very long way". Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. 'Brazen stealing is worse than ever', shops warn Shop staff get bodycams due to 'daily abuse' Shopkeeper shares CCTV of moment he was attacked Gloucester BID
Times
22-06-2025
- Business
- Times
Businesses call for action on abuse of public-facing staff
Business leaders are urging the government to broaden legislative action to protect all public-facing workers amid soaring levels of violence and abuse. Some 42 per cent of workers in pubs, restaurants, hotels and transport said they experienced some form of abuse between October and March, a year-on-year increase of 19 per cent, according to the new figures from the Institute of Customer Service. An all-party parliamentary group, which works alongside the industry group UK Hospitality, whose members include retailers, hospitality groups, call centres and transport companies, has been tracking customer service across all sectors over the past five years. • Extra costs holding back hospitality sector, says Whitbread boss Over a third, or 37 per cent, of the 1,050 respondents to the organisation's latest survey said they had considered leaving their role because of incidents which include racial abuse and sexual harassment, while over a quarter said they had taken sick leave after such incidents. One in five workers said they had been threatened with violence, the highest level that the group had recorded. Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service, said the research showed how 'frontline workers are facing unacceptable levels of assault and abuse from some customers'. Common assault is already an offence and the previous Conservative government had originally rejected calls to create a separate offence specifically linked to shopworkers, arguing it did not think it was 'required or will be most effective'. However, the retail industry argued that incidents were rising and Rishi Sunak's government reversed its position, although its plan to introduce a new offence was abandoned when parliament was dissolved for the general election. • Shops 'at breaking point' as thefts and abuse rocket While there has been a crackdown on retail crime, with a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker in England and Wales set to be introduced as part of the government's Crime and Policing Bill, which is making its way through parliament, businesses are calling for the bill to be amended to include all those working in public-facing roles. In a letter to the government, 76 businesses said that current legislation provided 'only a partial solution to an endemic and preventable issue'. The signatories of the letter include Sky, Hays Travel, Wickes, Virgin Media 02, United Utilities and DPD. 'These professionals form the bedrock to our society and our economy,' the letter said. Causon added: 'Introducing appropriate protection for customer-facing workers is not only the right thing to do on a societal level, it is critical the UK's business performance isn't impacted by workers up and down the country taking time off sick or thinking about leaving their jobs altogether.'
