Beating and Threatening... Can We Stop Violence Against 'Convenience Store Part-Timers'?

Working Alone and Exposed to Alcohol-Related Violence

Recently, as convenience store assault incidents continue to occur, there are urgent calls for the protection of convenience store employees.

[Asia Economy Culture Young Intern Reporter] Recently, crimes targeting convenience store part-time workers have been incessant. There have been indiscriminate assaults for reasons such as requesting mask-wearing, as well as threats and robberies. Due to the nature of convenience stores, where employees mostly work alone, they easily become targets of crime and are exposed to drunken violence when intoxicated customers come in.

◆ The Unending 'Convenience Store Assaults'

On the 18th, a man who assaulted a part-time worker at a convenience store in Seoul after being pointed out for not wearing a mask was arrested. The victim had to receive five stitches inside the mouth due to the assault. Prior to this, on the 16th in Incheon, two middle school students strangled a convenience store employee and stole cash. It was reported that they were over 14 years old and thus not classified as juvenile offenders.

In March, there was also an assault incident. The part-time worker explained the situation, saying, "The customer was fiddling with his phone at the counter for over 10 minutes, so I asked him to hurry up a bit, and he pushed my shoulder and slapped me."

Crimes occurring in convenience stores continue without pause. According to the National Police Agency, the number of convenience store crimes increased annually: 13,548 cases in 2018, 14,355 in 2019, and 14,697 in 2020. Among these, violent crimes such as injury, assault, and threats accounted for 2,368 cases in 2020. A survey conducted by the Part-time Workers' Union targeting convenience store part-time workers found that 67.9% of respondents had been exposed to violent situations.

Convenience store employees working in narrow cashier areas have virtually no space to avoid violence when customers act violently. Although they can report incidents, if the assailant enters the cashier area and assaults them, they are defenseless. Currently, most convenience stores have a 'ㄷ-shaped structure.' This design aims to place as many products as possible in a limited space and encourage customers waiting to pay to make additional purchases. However, this structure narrows the space between customers and employees, making physical contact such as assaults more likely. Additionally, it is difficult for employees to exit the cashier area during sudden incidents. However, since there are many convenience stores nationwide, it is difficult to change the structure of all stores, and there are limitations to expanding the store area.

Since COVID-19, there have also been cases of assaults on convenience store employees over quarantine rules such as 'mask-wearing.' Convenience store part-time workers say that their already anxious work environment has worsened. A person introducing herself as a female convenience store part-time worker named A wrote on an online community, "An elderly man who does not wear a mask comes every day," and added, "I want to report it, but I am afraid of retaliation." In fact, another female convenience store part-time worker was slapped when she asked a so-called 'no-mask' male customer to wear a mask.

◆ Installation of Safety Bells and Emergency Handsets... Punishment Must Also Be Strengthened

To eradicate crimes occurring in convenience stores, 112 safety bells have been installed. Additionally, the domestic convenience store industry has installed emergency buttons on payment terminals. They have also introduced the 'Han Dareum Service,' which connects automatically to the police when the emergency handset is placed down.

However, part-time workers feel uneasy even with safety bells. These services only notify the police but do not provide immediate action during assaults.

Oh Yoon-sung, a professor of Police Administration at Soonchunhyang University, said, "Victims of convenience store assaults are mainly young part-time workers, and assaults occur in response to sexual harassment or opposition to quarantine rules," adding, "There is a customer-employee dynamic with the mentality of 'How dare you interfere with me, the customer?'" He also said, "The biggest solution is 'strengthening punishment,'" and added, "It should not end with the occurrence of assault; follow-up and reporting on what punishment was given should be done to raise awareness."