Retailers in Japan are typically known for superior services, but some have decided enough is enough when it comes to dealing with abuse and harassment by customers.
Major department store operator Takashimaya in July released its first policy on defining such harassment and how to deal with it.
Demanding that Takashimaya employees apologize by kneeling on the floor and bowing is given as one example of harassment. Customers who occupy staff for unreasonably long periods of time is another.
The guidelines say staff can refuse to serve such customers, and managers can take the option to ban them from store premises. In especially malicious cases, management may consult with lawyers or report the incidents to the police.
In a related move in June, convenience store chain operator Lawson started to give employees the option to use initials only on name tags. This was in response to privacy concerns among staff about revealing their full names when dealing with customers.
Chida Fumitoshi, Senior Manager of Lawson, said, “The main aim is to ensure employees can work with peace of mind to serve our customers. There has been a lot of positive feedback from our staff.”
However, a survey by the UA Zensen confederation of labor unions shows about 40 percent of service industry staff have no official protection against customer harassment in the workplace.