At least half of retail staff have suffered some form of abuse while at work, but many of the incidents are not reported.
These are some of the findings of a new survey released by Usdaw as the shop workers union promotes its annual Respect for Shopworkers Week in the busy run-up to Christmas.

The campaign, running from November 11-15, encourages retail employees to talk to customers about the problems of violence threats and abuse and ask them to 'keep your cool'. Usdaw is also urging workers not to take abuse as part of their job and to report incidents to their manager.

The early results of the union's Freedom From Fear Survey Report 2013, which logs shop workers' experiences over the last year, show that 49% suffered verbal abuse, 35% were threatened and 4% were subjected to violent assaults.

Usdaw says that while the figures are down slightly on last year, they still show unacceptably high levels of attacks: for instance, violence against 4% of shop workers amounts to around 120,000 incidents against retail staff across the UK.

The report also shows that of those who were verbally abused, 46% did not report the incident, and nor did 33% of those threatened or 17% of those violently attacked.

Said Usdaw general secretary John Hannett: "Often, in the course of their duties, shop workers are expected to enforce the law, whether that's preventing under-age purchases or detaining shoplifters until the police arrive. They can be put in real danger. So it's always a real concern to our members when shoplifting is on the increase, because too often that can result in the shop worker being assaulted by the thief.

"It's very worrying that one in six shop workers who have been physically assaulted did not report the incident to their employer or the police. We're shocked that so many are suffering in silence and I would urge shop workers to report all incidents, to give us and the employers the chance to sort the problem.

He added: "Our message is very clear: abuse and physical attacks are not part of a shop worker's job!"

Usdaw is seeking a change in the law to provide for stiffer sentences for people who assault workers serving the public.