Based on the recent No One Deserves a Serve survey results there continues to be a clear picture that customer abuse and violence has continued to increase over the past two years. Most concerningly, physical violence has doubled in that time.
SDA members don’t need to see statistics to understand that incidents of customer abuse and violence are escalating. You experience this on a daily basis, whether it’s being sworn at and threatened for enforcing company policy or being physically attacked for doing your job.
While there are options to try and restrict offenders, they lack strong consequences. Store bans, are based on trespass law and essentially is a business removing their permission for a person to enter. They are difficult to enforce, often workers are left with the responsibility of recognising offenders and contacting police to attend, which can mean repeat offenders come and go before police arrive.
Under the Criminal Code Act 1899 and the Peace and Good Behaviour Act 1982, retail workers who have been assaulted or threatened with violence can seek to have offenders charged. This requires the worker to take the matter to police and the courts, which can take time, be traumatic and costly.
Under the WHS Act 2011, employers must eliminate or minimize risks. In practice this generally means internal banning policies and some security measures. Though without any strong, enforceable consequences for offenders these don’t always have the intended impact.
This why the SDA is strongly advocating for the introduction of Workplace Protection Orders (WPOs) in Queensland.
A Workplace Protection Order is a court issued order that can:
- Ban a person from entering a specific workplace
- Prevent a person from contacting or approaching workers
- Remain in force for 12 months
- Carry serious criminal penalties if breached
If a person ignores the order in any way, police have the ability to act immediately, as breaching these orders is a criminal offence.
The SDA has approached the Queensland Government alongside Employer groups to implore the government to introduce these long overdue measures.
The ACT and South Australia already have Workplace Protection Orders, NSW is developing them and WA has something very similar It’s time the Queensland Government Introduces them too.