Retail trade union Usdaw is calling on the Scottish Government to do more to protect shop workers in light of an epidemic of retail crime. The call comes on the fifth anniversary of the Scottish protection of workers’ law, which the union says makes a big difference if backed up by investment in policing.
The Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021, promoted by Daniel Johnson MSP (Labour, Edinburgh Southern), came into force on 24 August 2021.
It provides a specific offence for assaulting, threatening or abusing any retail worker and a harsher sentence if they were enforcing a statutory age restriction, resulting in a fine with penalties escalating to a prison sentence.
The legislation was a direct result of Usdaw’s ‘Freedom from Fear’ campaign, working with Scottish politicians, retail employers and other organisations.
Police recorded retail crime figures in Scotland, released in June, show that:
- Shoplifting increased from 20,557 incidents during the pandemic to 53,269 last year (2025/6), which is a 159% increase and includes a 19% rise on the previous year (2024/5).
- The ‘clear-up’ rate for shoplifting has fallen from 74.6% in 2014/5 to 50.6% in 2025/6, an overall decrease of nearly one-third, although there was a slight improvement last year of 1.6%.
- Since the Protection of Workers Act came into effect, the number of times the legislation has been used has increased every year. There have been 11,023 police recorded incidents of common assault of a retail worker over 5 years.
Tony Doonan, Usdaw regional secretary for Scotland, says, “Scotland’s protection of retail workers’ law has made a difference and has been used to punish over 11,000 offenders, but much more needs to be done in Scotland’s epidemic of retail crime.
“We are continuing to work with retailers and Police Scotland to help ensure that the legislation is fully utilised.
"However, we have been concerned by a lack of urgency to tackle retail crime from the Scottish Government, who have overseen a record-breaking more than doubling in shoplifting, with a 19% increase last year. In contrast, Labour’s actions have seen retail crime reduce over the last two quarters in England and Wales.
"Northern Ireland rates of theft from shops have also been trending downwards.
“Scottish retail workers suffer far too many incidents of violence, abuse and threats while over two-thirds of which are triggered by theft from shops and armed robbery.
"No-one should feel afraid to go to work, but far too many retail workers do. Usdaw’s own survey shows that over three-quarters of our Scottish members working in retail are being abused, threatened and assaulted for simply doing their job and serving the community.
"They provide an essential service and deserve our respect and the protection of the law, along with the full backing of the Government.”