Everyone deserves a safe working environment. But for too many people, particularly retail workers, violence and abuse at work has become just ‘part of the job’.
My bill ensures that crimes against workers are taken seriously and that they receive better protection from the law. It recognises their responsibilities and provides a clear and lower threshold at which obstructive, abusive or threatening behaviour is considered a crime and can be prosecuted.
This is particularly the case for retail workers, bar and pub staff, who all have to challenge customers for proof of age. The law means that these workers must check people’s ages, but the evidence shows that all too frequently, this can lead to unacceptable levels of abuse and violence.
Last year, I undertook a wide ranging consultation with interested parties and the general public, and was delighted to see the vast majority of respondents were in favour of my proposals.
Retail workers make up the largest private sector workforce in the country. When performing ID checks, workers are upholding the law, but are currently not given any legal protection. Added to this, workers are personally liable if they sell to a young person and face a fine of up to £5,000 and/or imprisonment for a term up to 3 months. There is no legal requirement to comply with a retail worker when undertaking their statutory obligations and no consequences for non-compliance.
Retail workers performing age restricted sales are performing a statutory obligation and are doing the same function as any other worker upholding the law. Those in the private sector deserve the same level of protection as those in the public sector.
There is already legislation in place that protects police officers in their duty and other professions that undertake legal obligations, such as HMRC and Immigration officials.
My bill has levelled the playing field and brought fairness to the system.
The Key Proposals:
- Criminalise the assault of a worker in the retail sector;
- Criminalise the assault of a worker involved in the sale or supply of age-restricted goods or services;
- Criminalise abuse, harassment, threatening to or obstructing a worker involved in the sale or supply of age-restricted goods or services. (This would cover verbal abuse, verbal or non-verbal threats or harassment and intimidation)
My Bill has made sure that the maximum penalties for these offences are the same as for the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005, on summary conviction, imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding £10,000, or both.
Usdaw General Secretary Paddy Lillis said:
“The Protection of Workers (Scotland) Act that Daniel Johnson MSP steered through the Scottish Parliament is a significant step forward for our members and our campaign.
The legislation, which was passed in January this year, came about as a result of significant campaigning by Usdaw, the Scottish Labour Party, the Co-op, and a broad coalition of other supporters. From this point, across Scotland, it will become a specific offence to abuse, threaten or assault a retail worker, sending a clear message that abuse is not part of the job.
“As well as working with employers to highlight the new provisions, the union has also organised an additional campaign week from 22-29 August to raise awareness and urge shopworkers to ‘report it to sort it’.
Although we welcome the new law in Scotland, we are deeply disappointed that the UK Government has continued to resist similar measures in the rest of the UK. We will continue to lobby the Government and fight for the safety of our members.”
Anas Sarwar MSP, the Leader of Scottish Labour said:
“It’s a delight to see Daniel’s bill made law and is testament to his hard work and that of unions like Usdaw and the Co-Operative party in righting this injustice.
Given all that retail workers do for us and especially the extra mile they went during lockdown in keeping us all fed, it’s only right that they receive the protections they deserve.”
“While this is a victory in Scotland, it’s now time to pass on the torch and support our wider Labour movement make it a reality across the whole UK so retail workers will be properly protected.”
