The Retail Trust and law firm Foot Anstey have formed a partnership in a bid to create safer working conditions for shopfloor staff.
The organisations teamed up to create the Retailers Against Harassment Certification, which is designed to protect retail workers from rising levels of abuse and inappropriate behaviour.
Companies hoping to achieve certification will be assessed across a variety of aspects including policies and procedures they have in place to deal with harassment, as well as the commitment from leadership to tackle the issues.
It comes six months after 100 retail bosses from the UK’s largest retailers wrote an open letter to the prime minister asking the government to give more staff greater protection by making abusing or assaulting retail staff a standalone criminal offence.
READ MORE: ACS urges retailers to complete crime survey
“This programme will help to give retail workers some of the clarity and reassurance they deserve by showing exactly what their employers are doing to protect them,” Retail Trust chief executive Chris Brook-Carter said.
“The Retailers Against Harassment Certification recognises the important role employers have to play in creating safer and happier workplaces for their staff, and we applaud any retailers that take part.
“We look forward to helping more people this year as we join forces with Foot Anstey to bring the industry together in tackling such a terrible issue.”
Foot Anstey head of retail and consumer Nathan Peacey added: “Responsible retailers are already aware of the problem and are working hard to address it, and this certification is an opportunity to gauge the efficacy of their actions and show their teams they are taking this issue seriously.
The news comes after convenience stores invested a record-breaking £246 million into crime prevention measures over the last year
The Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman commented: “We urge retailers to ensure that all crimes are reported to the police to demonstrate the true scale of the problem, and for the actions of the police and justice system to be targeted to stop reoffending.”
