Violence at work: what must employers do?
Threats and assaults are not something you should have to put up with at work. Your employer must assess the risks and act on them. Here is how to make them answer for it.
A customer spits at you on the till. A patient punches you during a lone night visit. Your manager calls it “part of the job”. That does not remove their safety duties. Get somewhere safe, record what happened and ask what will change before your next shift.
- 5 staff
- Written risk-assessment findings required at this employee threshold
- >7 days
- GB physical-injury incapacity threshold for a RIDDOR report
- 15 days
- GB deadline to report an over-seven-day injury
- 6 mths
- Less one day, most new GB tribunal claims
What counts as violence at work?
The Health and Safety Executive’s definition covers abuse, threats and assault connected with work. Violence by a manager or colleague counts too. You do not need a broken bone for your employer to act.
HSE’s 2024/25 England and Wales survey estimates were 689,000 incidents experienced by 329,000 working-age adults in employment. Incidents are not the same as people attacked.
Violence can also be unlawful harassment related to race, sex, disability or other covered characteristics, or sexual harassment. The Equality Act route is separate from safety law. See our sexual harassment guide.
What your employer must do before anyone gets hurt
In Great Britain, section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers to protect employees so far as reasonably practicable. Section 3 covers risks to others affected by the business, including agency staff and contractors. These duties include work-related violence. Breaches can lead to prosecution.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require a suitable and sufficient risk assessment. With five or more employees, the employer must record significant findings and groups especially at risk. Smaller employers must still assess and control risks.
Your employer must provide relevant safety information and training, plan for emergencies and consult staff or their representatives. Training in calming an angry customer cannot replace adequate staffing or a working alarm.
What that looks like in essential jobs:
Shops, bars and takeaways
The assessment should consider cash handling, late opening, age checks and refusing service. Controls might include enough staff at closing, panic buttons, safe cash drops and backup for refusals. Ask whether staff are expected to confront shoplifters, and how they will be protected.
Care, NHS support and night work
Lone visits, distressed patients and thin night staffing need attention. Paired visits, alarms, check-ins and relevant information in care plans may be needed. A patient’s illness affects how the risk is managed. It does not remove your employer’s safety duty.
Delivery, security and hospitality kitchens
A driver needs a way to get help on an unsafe route. A security guard needs backup. A kitchen porter should know whom to call if an aggressive customer enters the kitchen. Ask for a procedure for withdrawing safely, not an instruction to “deal with it”.
A customer or patient assaulted you: what the employer must do next
Your employer should arrange first aid and appropriate support, investigate and review the controls. Ask what will change before you return to the same patient, customer or shift. Police reporting does not replace these duties.
Report incidents, threats and near misses internally and keep a copy. HSE’s guidance advises employers to support affected staff and learn from incidents. RIDDOR, the statutory injury-reporting system, has narrower thresholds.
| Situation | Reportable? | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Death caused by a work-related assault | Yes | Notify without delay. Report received within 10 days of the incident. |
| Specified injury, such as a diagnosed broken wrist | Yes | Notify without delay. Report received within 10 days of the incident. |
| Physical injury prevents normal duties for more than seven consecutive days, excluding the incident day but including rest days | Yes | As soon as practicable, within 15 days of the incident. |
| Physical injury prevents normal duties for more than three but no more than seven consecutive days, with no specified injury | Record required, but no RIDDOR report | Keep an internal record. Exclude the incident day. |
| Threats or verbal abuse alone | No RIDDOR injury report | Record internally and act on the risk. |
Check the full specified-injury list. Fractures of fingers, thumbs and toes are excluded. Loss of consciousness qualifies when caused by head injury or asphyxia. An overnight hospital stay alone is not a specified injury.
RIDDOR covers non-consensual physical violence arising out of or in connection with work, not purely personal disputes unrelated to work. A threat need not be RIDDOR-reportable for the employer to address it. See our injury reporting guide.
Example: a care assistant assaulted on a Friday
Amara is punched on a Friday night visit in England. Five days unable to do normal duties, with no specified injury, requires a record only. Ten days of incapacity requires a report within 15 days of the assault, by the Saturday two weeks later. A diagnosed broken wrist requires notification without delay and a report within ten days, regardless of time off.
Should you call the police?
Call 999 in an emergency. Otherwise report an assault or threat through 101 or the police reporting service. You do not need your manager’s permission. Keep the reference or crime number.
Assaulting an emergency worker acting in their functions can carry up to two years’ imprisonment. England and Wales also have a statutory sentencing aggravation for assaults on people providing a public service or performing a public duty.
Scotland’s retail worker offence, in force since 24 August 2021, covers assault, threats and abuse. In England and Wales, the new retail assault offence remains prospective as at 1 October 2026. It concerns work on or about retail premises, not every public-facing job. Ordinary assault law still applies.
Can you refuse to go back?
There is no blanket right to refuse any shift after an assault.
In Great Britain, section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 protects workers against detriment for leaving, proposing to leave or refusing to return while danger persists, where they reasonably believe the danger is serious and imminent and cannot reasonably be expected to avert it. It also protects appropriate steps to protect yourself or others from danger reasonably believed to be serious and imminent. Appropriate steps depend on the circumstances, including the advice and facilities available.
An employee dismissed for the protected reasons can claim automatic unfair dismissal under section 100, without minimum service. Zero-hours staff can be employees or other workers. Check your status.
If safe to do so, explain the danger and request a safe alternative. For example, “The client who assaulted me is on tonight’s rota. There is no second carer and the alarm is broken. Please arrange a paired visit.” Keep a copy. In care, raise safe handover too. Get urgent advice, but do not remain in immediate danger waiting for it.
Punitive pay cuts or lost shifts may be unlawful detriment if the conditions are met. Payment is not guaranteed without a dispute. Keep before-and-after rotas and messages.
If your employer does nothing
Get safe and seek medical help first. Use these routes in parallel where needed.
- Write down what happened. Record when, where, exact words, injuries and witnesses. Save messages and rotas, photograph injuries and ask for CCTV to be preserved. Do not take unrelated patient or customer records.
- Send a written safety report. Ask for a review before your next shift and confirmation of any required RIDDOR report. Keep a copy. If management refuses to act, raise a grievance.
- Report suspected crime. Keep the police reference. You need not wait for the employer’s investigation.
- Get representation. Ask your safety rep or union. Usdaw covers retail; UNISON, GMB and Unite cover many care and health jobs; Unite and IWGB organise parts of hospitality and delivery. Check coverage and help with pre-membership incidents. Acas, Citizens Advice and law centres also advise.
- Report the unsafe system. Use HSE’s concern route in GB or HSENI in Northern Ireland. A local council may be the enforcing authority. Describe the ongoing risk. Safety enforcement is separate from tribunal compensation. See our HSE guide.
- Check your deadline now. Notify Acas within the applicable GB tribunal limit. A grievance does not extend it. Timely notification pauses the clock during early conciliation. The deadlines and transition are below.
Agency and zero-hours staff: who owes you what
Both the agency and host business have safety duties. Report to both and ask who holds the placement risk assessment. Neither should send you back and forth while danger remains.
RIDDOR responsibility depends on the employment relationship. If the agency is your legal employer, it normally reports an employee’s reportable injury. The host may be responsible in other arrangements. Ask them to identify the responsible person. An injured employee raises a safety concern if they fail to report, rather than submitting their RIDDOR form.
Section 44 covers workers’ protected danger-related actions; section 100 unfair dismissal requires employee status. Contract workers can also have Equality Act protection against the host. See our guides to agency rights, zero-hours contracts and status.
Genuinely self-employed people have applicable safety protection, but not general section 44 or section 100 rights. Check how you actually work. The contract’s label is not decisive.
Pay, sick leave and compensation after violence
If injury or psychological effects stop you working, check eligibility for Statutory Sick Pay and contractual sick pay. An assault does not automatically mean full wages. Follow sickness reporting rules and keep medical evidence.
A civil negligence claim requires an employer’s failure to take reasonable care that caused your injury. In England and Wales, the usual limit is three years from injury or, if later, the relevant date of knowledge. Scotland and Northern Ireland use separate laws. Ask an injury solicitor about your deadline and exceptions.
For violent crime in GB, CICA compensation depends on the scheme’s conditions. Apply as soon as reasonably practicable, usually within two years of the crime. Report to police first, but do not wait for the investigation or prosecution to finish. Northern Ireland has a separate scheme.
A tribunal claim concerns unlawful employer treatment, such as protected safety detriment, dismissal or harassment. Most relevant GB claims have a six-months-less-one-day limit where the legally relevant date is on or after 1 October 2026. Earlier cases retain three months less one day. Early conciliation adjusts these limits.
Example: the tribunal deadline change
For a single act of unlawful detriment on 30 September 2026, the ordinary limit ends on 29 December 2026. For one on 1 October 2026, it ends on 31 March 2027. Both are before conciliation adjustments. Notify Acas in time. Do not add six months to the date conciliation ends. Continuing harassment or a series of acts needs its own calculation.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland shares the main GB safety, RIDDOR and Equality Act framework, plus its retail worker offence. Its civil injury limitation law is separate from England and Wales.
Northern Ireland has separate safety and RIDDOR laws, enforced by HSENI or local councils. Its injury reporting threshold is more than three days unable to do normal work, excluding the incident day but including rest days. Deaths and major injuries require notification without delay and a report within ten days. Do not use the GB seven-day threshold.
The Equality Act and GB harassment reforms do not apply there. For safety retaliation, dismissal or discrimination, contact the Labour Relations Agency or your union about local protections and deadlines. Do not assume six months. See our Northern Ireland guide.
What changed and what is still pending
- Sexual harassment prevention duty in force
GB employers must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. EHRC can enforce. In a successful sexual harassment claim, breach can bring a compensation uplift of up to 25%.
- Longer tribunal limits in force
Most GB claims with a relevant date on or after this date get six months less one day. Commencement regulations govern the transition.
- Stronger harassment duties scheduled
Acas says GB employers will face third-party harassment liability unless they took all reasonable steps. The sexual harassment prevention duty also becomes all reasonable steps. Neither change is in force on 1 October.
Questions people ask
Do threats and shouting count?
Work-related threats and abuse count under HSE’s definition. Report them. They need not meet RIDDOR’s injury thresholds for your employer to act.
Can you be sacked for refusing an unsafe shift?
Employees have automatic unfair dismissal protection for the specified serious-and-imminent-danger reasons. Workers have detriment protection. The conditions matter. Explain the danger, request a safe alternative and get advice urgently.
Should agency staff report to the agency or the site?
Both. Ask who investigates, who controls the risk and who has the RIDDOR duty. The reporting duty depends on the employment relationship.
Can an NDA stop you reporting an assault?
Do not assume it bars reporting a crime to police. In GB, section 43J makes agreements void so far as they prevent protected whistleblowing disclosures. Not every disclosure qualifies. Before signing, get independent advice on lawful disclosures to police, regulators and others.
Which deadline comes first?
A tribunal deadline can expire before the civil injury or criminal compensation limit. Notify Acas promptly, not after a grievance or police investigation finishes. Earlier GB cases can still have the three-months-less-one-day limit. Northern Ireland has separate rules.
Sources
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, sections 2 and 3, legislation.gov.uk
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3, legislation.gov.uk
- Violence and aggression at work, HSE
- Work-related violence: what the law says, HSE
- Reporting and learning from incidents, HSE. Source for barriers to internal reporting.
- Violence at work 2024/25, HSE. England and Wales survey estimates and combined-year occupational rates.
- RIDDOR 2013, regulations 3, 4 and 12 and Schedule 1, legislation.gov.uk
- Specified, reportable injuries to workers, HSE
- When an incident must be reported, HSE
- Who should report under RIDDOR, HSE. Includes agency arrangements and the worker’s concern route.
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 44, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 100, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 1996, section 43J, legislation.gov.uk
- Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023, legislation.gov.uk
- Sexual harassment and harassment at work: technical guidance, EHRC
- Employment Rights Act 2025, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 2025 commencement amendment regulations, SI 2026/954, legislation.gov.uk. Tribunal time-limit transition.
- Employment tribunal time limits, Acas. Updated 1 October 2026.
- Third-party harassment law changes and sexual harassment law changes, Acas. Scheduled for 30 October 2026.
- Assaults on emergency workers, Crown Prosecution Service
- Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021, legislation.gov.uk
- Crime and Policing Act 2026, section 45, legislation.gov.uk. Prospective as at the legal review date.
- Retail crime factsheet, Home Office and Ministry of Justice. Updated 30 September 2026.
- BRC Crime Report 2026, British Retail Consortium. Source for the retail reality check.
- Frontline NHS staff facing rise in physical violence, NHS England. Source for the 2024 survey reality check.
- Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978, article 4, legislation.gov.uk
- Accident reporting, HSENI. Northern Ireland thresholds and enforcing authorities.
- Limitation Act 1980, section 11, legislation.gov.uk. England and Wales personal injury claims.
- Criminal injuries compensation and eligibility, GOV.UK. GB application deadline and separate Northern Ireland process.