Pledge
“Labour will … create a new specific offence for assaults on shopworkers that will protect them from threats and violence”
Our verdict
The Crime and Policing Act contains a new offence of assault against a retail worker.
Has the government introduced a new offence of assault on shopworkers?
Achieved 
What does the pledge mean?
Labour’s manifesto pledged to create a “new specific offence” for assaults on shop workers.
Assaults of retail staff in their workplace can already be prosecuted in a variety of ways through existing legislation, including the Offences against the Person Act 1861, the Public Order Act 1986 and the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
Labour’s change would make it a specific offence in law to assault a member of shop staff. A law passed in 2018 made it a specific offence to assault an emergency worker (such as police, paramedics, or firefighters) or those helping them.
This pledge applies to England and Wales, as criminal law is largely devolved in both Scotland—where a similar law was passed in 2021—and Northern Ireland.
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What progress has been made?
The Crime and Policing Act achieved Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, creating a new specific offence of assault on retail workers at work.
The Act specifies that the new offence will carry a maximum penalty of six months or an unlimited fine, and places a presumption on the courts to impose a criminal behaviour order (CBO) on defendants upon first conviction.
The definition of “retail worker” includes volunteers and people who are “working there for or on behalf of the owner or occupier” of the premises, while the offence applies not only to staff in shops but also retail stalls and vehicles.