Scottish Government back Labour bill to criminalise abusing and assaulting retail workers

The bill, introduced by Scottish Labour MSP Daniel Johnson, will be debated next week.

Shop workers will be further protected with new laws

Proposed new legislation to make abusing and assaulting retail workers a criminal offence have been backed by the Scottish Government, paving the way for the crime to become law.

The Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-Restricted) (Scotland) Bill, introduced by Edinburgh Southern MSP Daniel Johnson, will extend existing laws to specifically cover retail workers.

The Scottish Government announced it would support the bill today, ahead of a debate and vote on the general principles of the bill next Thursday.

It will criminalise assaulting, threatening or abusing retail workers, but the Scottish Government has said it will not support an additional offence in the initial bill for obstructing or hindering retail staff becoming law.

In a letter to the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee, minister for community safety, Ash Denham, said the legislation will “help emphasise the importance” of retail workers.

She said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the key role that retail workers play in serving and sustaining Scotland’s communities. This legislation will help emphasise the importance of law enforcement using their powers to protect retail workers.

“Subject to certain amendments being made to the Bill in Parliament, the Scottish Government will be supporting this legislation to improve understanding of the extent of offences against retail workers and to ensure a new specific offence can be used for assaults, threats and abuse committed against these workers.”

The Scottish Labour MSP, Mr Johnson, welcomed the decision from the Scottish Government and said the bill will pay an “important tribute” to retail workers who worked during the pandemic.

He said: “I’m delighted to see the Scottish Government have agreed to support my Bill at stage one next week, adding their backing to this important issue along with Trade Unions and retail groups across the country. Dialogue with ministers in recent weeks has been useful in identifying understanding on this important issue.”

“Passing my bill into law will provide an important recognition of the key duty shopworkers have upholding the law and the issues they face doing so.

"Most critically, the pandemic has seen people working in retail performing critical roles, supplying the basic essentials to all of us and keeping us safe as we do so. This bill pays an important tribute to these efforts over the last six months.”

“It is clear from my consultation and work that there is clear public support for my Bill. I will continue to work with other political parties and key stakeholders to ensure it passes the remaining parliamentary stages and becomes law.”

While the bill is now almost certain to pass through the Scottish Parliament successfully, critics against the bill argue its overlap with other offences means the bill does not significantly extend existing legal protections.

The bill also plans to add an aggravating factor to existing legislation which would mean harsher sentences for those found to have breached the act.

However, critics argue that the fact an offence was committed against someone during the course of their work is already an option as an aggravating factor.

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