This week in HR: Discrimination, cost of living, and COVID-19

In this week’s roundup, we are seeing how the pandemic has impacted our retail workers. We’re also witnessing the effects of workplace discrimination and the rising cost of living on employees.

COVID-19 impacting retail workers

As reported by the BBC this week, a large proportion of retail employees face abuse from customers every week, with these figures only getting worse through the pandemic.

According to a report by Retail Trust, 90 per cent of retail workers have been abused on the job. One third of those said this is happening to them every week, and 70 per cent said the pandemic only made these issues worse.

Jane, a checkout supervisor at a supermarket said in the Retail Trust report: “Getting abused has become part of my job.”

She continued: “On many occasions I’ve had things thrown at me, been called names … and been threatened. I once refused to serve an energy drink to a young person and a group of them told me they would wait outside for me after work. We’re just trying to earn a living, but it’s made me feel anxious about going to work.”

The issue of increased abuse through COVID-19 was shown in the Pandemic Pressures study by The University of Sydney and The Australian National University, released November 2021. Fifty-six per cent of respondents noted an increase in negative behaviour of customers during the pandemic.

University of Sydney Business School professor, Rae Cooper commented on the report: “Workers feel disrespected and report that they have been on the receiving end of disrespectful treatment, threatening behaviour and bad manners from retail customers. This was especially the case for women, young workers and culturally and linguistically diverse workers.”

Workplace discrimination

The issue of poor treatment of staff continued this week as Personnel Today reported that 20 per cent of people have been discriminated against in the workplace in the last 12 months.

The study of 3,419 working adults in Britain was conducted by the Resolution Foundation. Discrimination based on age was most common and sex second. 21 per cent of ethnic minorities and 15 per cent of disabled people reported facing unfair treatment at work.

According to the report, low paid workers are almost twice as likely to worry about workplace discrimination than higher paid workers, sitting at 20 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

Cost of living aid for employees

CIPD released guidelines to help employers support their staff as the cost of living rises.

CPID said that money isn’t the only way to support struggling employees. The tips listed on the site are:

• Review your reward strategy
• Review your financial wellbeing policy
• Review your benefits package
• Consider the legal implications
• Train your managers
• Empower your employees to be heard
• Build your communication strategy
• Examine the CIPD reward management survey