Shop staff verbally abused by customers
Wednesday December 23 2009
Shop staff have been verbally abused in the course of their work and one in 10 has even been assaulted by customers, according to a new survey.
Research by the Mandate trade union shows that seven in 10 retail workers have been subjected to verbal abuse and some have been attacked over matters outside their control.
Mandate appealed to Christmas shoppers to think twice before abusing shop workers and to be mindful of the pressures they were under.
Their survey showed that a staggering 70pc of retail workers had experienced verbal abuse in the past 12 months.
Nine times out of 10 the problem was completely outside the control of the employee, said Mandate campaigns co-ordinator Brian Forbes.
"Issues such as clothing sizes, refund policies and a lack of stock are high on the agenda of customer complaints, yet retail workers have very little control over these matters," he said.
- Aideen Sheehan
Irish Independent
