The UK’s banking industry is urging the government to extend new legal protections for retail workers to branch staff in banks and building societies, warning that they face similar risks of abuse, violence, and intimidation.
A proposed new standalone offence for assaulting retail workers is being introduced under the government’s crime and policing bill, currently progressing through Parliament. The measure — first promised by the previous Conservative administration and now adopted by Labour — would make it a specific criminal offence to assault retail workers, with offenders facing up to six months in prison and/or an unlimited fine.
However, UK Finance, the trade body representing the banking sector, has said the bill excludes bank and building society staff, despite a reported 10,503 incidents of abuse in branches last year.
“This exclusion unfairly discriminates against branch staff,” UK Finance said in its submission to Parliament. “Like other customer-facing workers, they deserve to feel safe at work. Assaults on bank staff should carry the same consequences.”
Bank branches, it argued, play a unique role on the high street, often dealing with emotionally charged situations tied to people’s personal finances, security, and aspirations.
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