For context, I have just left this job and started somewhere new that’s completely remote. Before I left, there were a few instances of staff members being verbally assaulted and threatened not only by customers but also random people on the street (this office was based on a busy high street).
It’s no secret that we had to work with customers with “interesting” backgrounds but no support or training on what to do when a situation becomes frightening and staff members feel in danger. Well, the last time this happened, I was threatened by a member of the public and so was the entire office. I was very upset and didn’t feel safe as they were s in the so called the police. I left work 10 minutes early and cried all the way home. I was able to work from home the next day but I was shaken up and told my manager who was great but told me he had to pass this information onto the CEO.
Turns out, I wasn’t the only one who had reported an uptake of unsettling behaviour towards staff members as it turns out as others had called the police on things witnessed inside and just outside the office (fights, arguments, potential safeguarding issues etc.). It was only when our CEO (who works remotely) came to our office and spoke with a local business co-ordinator who offered some staff safety resources (comms between shops and offices in the local area, panic alarms etc.). The CEO furiously refused all support and left the office the next day. That night, when the CEO was 300 miles away and emailed out of office hours, he told us all that we were over reacting and that these were not safeguarding issues.
I interviewed for a job one week afterwards and accepted it. I’m still very much burnt out from that job for loads of other reasons but this was the thing that pushed me over the edge.