Albert Heijn taking measures to reduce aggression against supermarket employees

Albert Heijn is tightening its house rules to reduce the aggression, violence, and nuisance directed at its staff. The supermarket chain receives around a thousand reports per year of staff being verbally abused, spat on, or physically assaulted. Albert Heijn Staff will also no longer wear name tags, to make it harder for aggressive customers to track them down on social media, AD reports.

“It has become almost normal for colleagues to have curses thrown at them every day,” Albert Heijn director Sonja Boelhouwer told the newspaper. “For them, I say: this far and no further.”

The supermarket chain’s house rules will be expanded. Currently, signs inform customers that dogs and smoking are not allowed in the supermarket. Soon, they’ll also say, “Treat our colleagues with respect,” and “Filming is not allowed here.”

A survey showed that 70 percent of Albert Heijn employees found it unpleasant to work with a name tag, partly because it makes it easier for others to find them on social media. The supermarket will, therefore, replace name tags with tags saying “We are Team Albert Heijn.”

“That doesn’t solve everything, but it is a show of support for colleagues,” Boelhouwer said. “Although most customers behave well, we see that the degree and form of incidents is increasing We want to show our people that aggressive behavior is really not okay.”

Albert Heijn receives daily reports from employees facing harassment, violence, or other transgressive behavior. The supermarket receives around a thousand reports per year but expects the actual number to be higher. Not all incidents are reported.

The supermarket chain has also been offering resilience training to its employees and has now launched a campaign encouraging them to discuss incidents with each other and file reports.

Albert Heijn is not the first supermarket to take steps against the increasing aggression targeting its staff. Dirk previously announced that it would equip staff with body cameras to combat aggression. Jumbo has taken extra measures against shoplifting.