Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021

Overview

Retail workers often face violence and threats while doing their jobs. The Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021  seeks to increase the protection for retail workers in law as it:

• creates a new statutory offence of assaulting, threatening or abusing a retail worker
• creates a statutory aggravation to that offence where the retail worker is enforcing a statutory age restriction (e.g. selling alcohol or fireworks).

Abusive behaviour can constitute single acts of abuse, and also prolonged behaviours that comprise a 'Course of Conduct'.