Employees in customer facing roles regularly deal with challenging situations, from suspected theft to aggressive behaviour and abuse. While many employees act in a way they feel is appropriate, problems can arise when they decide to confront a customer directly.
When this happens, employers may find themselves trying to support their employees whilst considering whether their actions created unnecessary risks, escalated the situation or breached workplace policies and procedures.
The appropriate response will depend on the circumstances of the incident. However, employers can significantly reduce the risk by ensuring they have clear policies, providing employees with training on managing workplace conflict and updating their risk assessments.
Disciplinary action and dismissal
If an employee does confront a customer and there is a complaint and/ or the employer considers their actions to potentially be misconduct, any disciplinary action must fall within the range of reasonable responses by the employer. Whether disciplinary action, including dismissal, falls within the range of reasonable responses will depend on the circumstances and the individual facts.
Employers should ensure that any disciplinary action is in line with the Acas Code of Practice and the employer’s disciplinary procedure. This will usually involve conducting a fair investigation, allowing the employee an opportunity to respond to the allegations, and following a fair disciplinary process.
Employers should consider the seriousness of the employee’s conduct, whether the employee breached company policy, whether physical force was used or threatened, and whether the employee’s intervention caused any health and safety risks.
If the employee’s actions amounted to gross misconduct, for instance if the employee used physical violence, serious threats or verbal abuse, this could be grounds for summary dismissal. The employer may also face pressure from the customer to remove the employee from their role. The employer should still ensure they conduct a fair and impartial investigation and follow the correct disciplinary procedure. Employers should also consider whether a different form of penalty would be proportionate in the circumstances and apply consistent sanctions. Failure to do so could leave the employer exposed to potential unfair dismissal claims.
In the recent case of Spinks v Snow Motor Group Ltd, Mr Spinks succeeded in his claim for wrongful and unfair dismissal after being fired from his job at a car dealership after standing up to a rude and aggressive customer, which the Tribunal found was justified in the circumstances. This case highlights the risks of employers reaching a disciplinary outcome without assessing all the facts.
The legal position – protecting the interests of the employees
As well as considering any necessary action that needs to be taken against the employee, employers have a statutory duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of their employees. This includes providing a safe working environment and taking reasonable steps to protect staff from foreseeable risks. For businesses with customer-facing employees, this duty extends to identifying and mitigating the risks arising from confrontational customers.
Employers are also required to take steps to prevent and address third-party harassment, including verbal or physical abuse by customers. This could include implementing anti-harassment policies or issuing warnings to customers.
This will become particularly important when the new third-party harassment provisions under the Employment Rights Act 2025 come into force on 30 October 2026. These provisions will require employers to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent employees from being subjected to harassment by third parties, including customers.
What amounts to reasonable steps will depend on the workplace and the potential risks. For example, there are likely to be more risks for those working in the retail or hospitality sector.
Shoplifting: a specific challenge
Some of the more difficult situations arise where employees confront suspected shoplifters.
Many employers have policies in place preventing employees from confronting suspected shoplifters. Despite this, recent media reports have featured cases where employees have faced disciplinary action and, in some cases, dismissal after attempting to stop suspected shoplifters.
When an employee intervenes in a suspected shoplifting incident, employers should carefully consider the circumstances including whether the employee acted against training or workplace policies and whether their actions exposed themselves or others to unnecessary risk.
Whilst a breach of company policy may justify disciplinary action, dismissal will not automatically be a reasonable response. Employers must still follow a fair process and make sure that any sanction falls within the range of reasonable responses. A failure to do so could result in a finding of unfair dismissal if challenged in an employment law tribunal.