Rude.
For shop workers
A professional thing to say. A kind word after. And the people who can help you take it further.
On iPhone, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. The name on your phone just says Rude. After one open with signal, it can work on the shop floor without it.
Nothing you type is uploaded.
Pick the closest. If your shop has its own wording, you can use that. These lines are calm, clear, and fair.
Say this
For you
If you can leave the floor, do. Water, the loo, the stockroom, one colleague. If you cannot, one slow breath at the till still counts. Unclench your jaw. The next customer is not this one.
You can use this on a break, or after the shift. Being rude to you is not part of the job, even when it happens a lot.
Call 999 if you are in danger.
Move towards other people, a colleague, or a way out. You do not have to warn the customer that you are calling the police. Do not chase them, and do not try to grab them.
You do not have to be in crisis, and you do not have to make it a big story. One sentence is allowed.
Ask at work whether there is an employee assistance programme. A lot of retailers have a private counselling line, and people are often never told it exists. The staff handbook or HR can point you to it. Your manager does not have to sit in on the call.
Websites: Samaritans, Shout, Retail Trust, Mind, NHS urgent mental health, Victim Support on retail abuse.
A report is easier while you still remember the words. You can write it here, then copy it into a text or an email. The note stays on this phone until you send it yourself.
You can stop the conversation. Many shops expect you to get a manager rather than decide a ban on your own. Follow the shop's policy on refusing a sale. Stopping an abusive conversation is different from refusing someone because of who they are. A manager should back you when the reason is abuse.
If your shop has its own lines for staff to use, those are worth knowing. The lines on this site are written so a manager should be able to stand behind them.
Incident note When: Where in the shop: What happened: What was said, as exactly as I remember: What I did: Who saw or heard it: Manager I told: CCTV: please save it if there is any. I want this recorded.
Put it in writing if you have only said it out loud. Ask for the incident number. Keep your own copy of what you sent.
Your employer has to protect your health and safety, and that includes abuse from customers. The Health and Safety Executive counts work-related violence as any incident where a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work. Verbal abuse is included. The shop should have a way for you to report it, and they should look at patterns, not only at injuries.
If you are punished for reporting, left alone to deal with it, or told it is just part of retail, that is a separate problem. Acas can talk through your options at work. A union can raise it with you. You can also raise a health and safety concern. For many shops the enforcing authority is the local council. HSE's reporting service explains whether they or the council should take it. If the form is hard to use, they will fill it in with you on 0300 003 1647, on weekdays.
Northern Ireland: Citizens Advice Northern Ireland has its own line. Use their site for the current number. HSE guidance on violence at work. Tell HSE about a health and safety issue. Acas.
This is general information for shop workers in the UK, checked on 22 October 2026. It is not legal advice. Scotland, England and Wales, and Northern Ireland are not the same. If you need advice about your own situation, use Acas, Citizens Advice, a union, or a solicitor.
Being rude is not always a crime. It is still not acceptable, and your employer should deal with it. Call the police if someone threatens you, hurts you, follows you, targets you because of who you are, or will not leave you alone.
If someone assaults you, the courts already have to treat it as more serious because you were serving the public. That includes shop workers. It has been the law since 28 June 2022.
Parliament has also passed a separate offence of assaulting a retail worker, in section 45 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026. When this page was checked, commencement regulations had not yet brought that offence into force. You do not have to wait for it. Threats and assault are already crimes. Report them now.
It is a specific offence to assault, threaten or abuse a retail worker who is doing their job, if the person knows, or ought to know, that you work there. For threats and abuse, the behaviour has to be threatening or abusive, and either meant to frighten or alarm you, or done without caring whether it does. One incident can be enough. It is treated more seriously if you were asking for ID or enforcing an age limit.
There is not the same specific retail-worker offence. Threats and assault are still crimes. Contact the PSNI on 999 or 101.
You can report anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. An anonymous report may not get you a callback or a case of your own. Victim Support can help whether or not you have spoken to the police.
Hate incidents, in England and Wales, can be reported through True Vision. In Scotland, use Police Scotland's hate crime page. You can report a hate incident even when you are not sure it meets the bar for a crime. Write down the exact words.
A sexual comment, or a comment about your sex, race, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation, can be harassment. One serious incident can be enough. You do not have to have objected perfectly at the time, and laughing along to get it over with does not mean you agreed.
Since 26 October 2024, employers have had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers. The Equality and Human Rights Commission says this includes harassment by customers.
From 30 October 2026 that duty rises. Employers must take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. An employer can also be responsible if a customer harasses you and the employer did not take all reasonable steps to prevent it. Acas can explain what that means in practice. There are time limits if you ever wanted to take a case further. Ask early, rather than waiting to see if you feel up to it.
Scotland: Rape Crisis Scotland. More from Acas on sexual harassment and the Employment Rights Act changes. Equality Advisory and Support Service.
A customer who will not leave you alone, waits for you, follows you, or keeps contacting you may be harassing or stalking you. That can be a crime even when each visit looks small on its own. Tell your manager, and tell the police. Keep a simple log of dates, times, and what happened. The note on this phone can be that log.
Filming you is not always a crime by itself. A shop can ask a customer to stop filming staff and can ask them to leave. Filming you to threaten, humiliate, or target you can be reported. If they post it, give your manager the account name and do not feel you have to keep watching it.
National Stalking Helpline, including the form for when the phone line is shut.
Usdaw is the union for shop workers. Its Freedom From Fear campaign exists because abuse of retail staff is common, and because the union's position is that it is not part of the job.
If you are a member, your rep can raise an incident with you, and the union can help. Members who are injured can get legal help with a claim. If you are not a member, the helpline is also how people join. Joining is a choice. You can report an incident at work either way.
Usdaw's Freedom From Fear campaign.
There is no account and no analytics. The lines you open are not sent to a server. Your name, if you add one, and any notes you save, stay in this browser on this phone. They are not uploaded.
Clearing your browser data, or using a private tab, will remove them. Copy or share anything you need to keep. The Share button uses your phone's own share sheet. That send is yours.
Opening the site is an ordinary web visit. Cloudflare, which hosts the page, can see that a phone requested it, in the way any website host can. The words you type do not leave the phone.
The name on your home screen is just Rude, so it does not announce itself if a customer sees your phone.
Delete it here any time. It is never shown to a customer by this site.
A pocket guide for people who work in shops in the UK. It is not your employer's policy, and it is not legal advice. Checked 22 October 2026. Helpline hours change. If a number fails, use the organisation's website.
Facts for a manager, a rep, or the police. Feelings stay on the phone, out of the copy you send.