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FOR BUSINESS
Keeping our retail colleagues safe from harassment
Preventing harassment in the retail environment is becoming a touchstone people and business issue. We’ve joined forces with Foot Anstey’s retail and consumer team on an initiative to support retailers in their efforts to foster safer working environments for their employees.
FOR BUSINESS
Keeping our retail colleagues safe from harassment
Preventing harassment in the retail environment is becoming a touchstone people and business issue. We’ve joined forces with Foot Anstey’s retail and consumer team on an initiative to support retailers in their efforts to foster safer working environments for their employees.
FOR BUSINESS
Keeping our retail colleagues safe from harassment
Preventing harassment in the retail environment is becoming a touchstone people and business issue. We’ve joined forces with Foot Anstey’s retail and consumer team on an initiative to support retailers in their efforts to foster safer working environments for their employees.
Retailers against harassment certification
The retailers against harassment certification has been created to combat the rise in harassment in the retail workplace. Foot Anstey’s research in 2019 and 2021 revealed that nearly two-thirds of shopworkers have experienced offensive behaviour at work. Furthermore, the British Retail Consortium’s open letter to the UK Government in July 2021 calling for more protection for shopworkers featured signatures from multiple well-known brands.
The certification programme combines the experience, advisory skills and industry know-how of the two organisations to help retailers protect their employees from harassment and support them when they encounter it.
Foot Anstey and the Retail Trust will work with participating retailers to review and improve the measures in place to protect workers and deal with any complaints of harassment. A new harassment in retail certification will then be awarded to the retailer showing the actions it is taking to tackle abusive incidents.
This follows research by Foot Anstey which found nearly two-thirds (61%) of shop workers have experienced offensive behaviour at work since the pandemic, causing stress, anxiety and a loss of self-esteem. But only 15 per cent of retailers told the Retail Trust that they have raised awareness or implemented training to deal with the issue.
Real experiences, real impact
Our study into harassment in retail presented some alarming results and left us wondering what more could be done to protect this group of keyworkers and help create safer working environments for retail workers.
Nathan Peacey
Partner, Foot Anstey
Violence towards shop workers remains a major problem facing the industry. We welcome any initiatives aimed at supporting colleagues, and helping retailers to protect their workers. Similarily we welcome new ways to evaluate the effectiveness of measures currently in place to protect colleagues.
Helen Dickinson
Chief Executive, BRC
More and more people are turning to the Retail Trust because of the rising levels of abuse they are receiving in stores and call centres. This programme will help to give shop workers some of the clarity and reassurance they deserve by showing exactly what their employers are doing to protect them.
Chris Brook-Carter
Chief Executive Office, Retail Trust
Why has the new certification programme been created?
In 2019 and 2021, Foot Anstey conducted in-depth surveys into the issue of harassment in retail, shining a light on retail workers’ experiences of harassment in the workplace.
The most recent study, released in September 2021, surveyed over 1,000 retail colleagues and uncovered reports of physical, sexual and verbal harassment. The conclusion was that more needed to be done to drive down unacceptable behaviour by customers and colleagues, and ensure appropriate support for workers was in place when it did occur.
Access Retail Trust harassment prevention customer resources here.
Retail Trust training courses
Here at the Retail Trust we offer unique training courses delivered by a national network of trainers, all of whom have experience in both mental health training and the retail sector. Designed to upskill participants to approach mental health and wellbeing with more knowledge and confidence, participants will gain a deeper understanding of the issues as well as practical tools to take back into their workplaces to make a lasting difference.