New research funded by an NSW care and insurance provider has found that the risks and effects of customer abuse and violence in the retail sector, particularly verbal abuse, are being underestimated.
icare said retail and fast food workers who experience abuse from customers may suffer permanent physical, psychological, and social injuries which can be life threatening. This, in turn, may result to low workplace morale, higher costs due to absenteeism, sick leave and workers’ compensation claims, and staff turnover.
“With almost 90% of retail-sector workers reporting experiencing abuse by customers over a 12-month period, we want to work with employers to find opportunities to reduce the number and severity of these incidents,” said Sara Kahlau, icare’s chief of customer and community.
icare said abuse by customers ranges from low-intensity incivility to high-intensity verbal abuse and physical aggression, which can potentially lead to both short- and long-term consequences on the psychological wellbeing, physical health, and work attitudes and performance of employees.
Contributing causal factors include organisational policies and the service environment, as well as customer motivators, which are usually around gaining esteem, revenge, and financial benefits.
To address the issue, the report proposed modifications to physical elements of the workplace, increased workplace support, specialised and focused customer-service training, and incident reaction training.
Regardless of what solution directions are taken, icare said frontline service employees’ experience of customer abuse, employee markers of change, and organisational markers of change can be used to monitor the effectiveness for their workplaces.
“Based on the findings of the report, icare, together with project partners are and co-designing a number of customer, employer and employee-led sustainable and multi-faceted solutions to improve safety outcomes in the retail sector,” Kahlau said.
