Coles customer calls police on teen staff member for not wearing gloves
A Coles customer called police because a supermarket staff member was not wearing gloves, despite using hand sanitiser.
Manly
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A teenage girl working at Coles was abused by a customer for not wearing gloves, with reports the man called police.
Manly Corso Coles staff member Hayley Evans, 16, told the customer she had been following protocol by using hand sanitiser but he was “unsatisfied” with her response.
Hayley’s mother Kate Munn posted about the incident on Facebook after it took place on Saturday at lunchtime.
“My daughter works at Coles in Manly, she’s a high school student who has a part time job like zillions of other teens around the world,” she wrote in the post.
“Yesterday a customer harassed her for not wearing gloves, she patiently stated that gloves were optional and she’d been given and been using hand sanitiser. So the customer phoned police.”
Several other people commented, explaining their children had similar experiences working in other local supermarkets.
“My son has just started at coles and he said some people are SO rude - not sure what gives them the right?” one mother wrote in response.
“My daughter works at Coles Stockland - she has been abused by customers daily since this started. Mean people become meaner people in all this. It’s very upsetting for anyone to be treated badly when doing your job,” another mother wrote.
Mrs Munn told the Manly Daily it was a confronting for her daughter.
“It was an older man who was very agitated, it’s inappropriate to be speaking to a staff member like that, even with gender and age out of the equation. She’s had some queries before but nothing as confrontational,” Mrs Munn said.
“It’s my understanding the police didn’t attend and the management team were there straight away being very supportive.
“Management have prepared their staff for these sort of scenarios so while it was unpleasant, it wasn’t completely unexpected.”
She urged people to be more respectful to supermarket staff who are doing their best and putting their own health on the line.
“Supermarket staff are essential workers, we need these people to function through this crisis and if they’re comprised things will become difficult a lot more quickly.
“I’m concerned about this level of hysteria and misinformation and that things might escalate but I have a lot of confidence in the management team so I’m not concerned with sending her to work.”
A Coles spokeswoman responded to the incident, stating it does not tolerate abuse or disrespect to staff members.
“Coles does not tolerate abuse or disrespect and we thank our customers for continuing to show compassion to our hard working team members during these busy times. The safety of our customers and team members is our most important focus and we continue to work closely with the Australian Government to review our health and safety arrangements for store team members in line with their recommendations,” the Coles spokeswoman said.
“Coles is spending an additional $1 million per week to extensively clean our stores and also increasing the number of security guards in our supermarkets to keep customers and team members safe during this time of unprecedented demand.
“The Australian Government’s COVID-19 Hygiene Practices for Supermarkets state that washing hands regularly or using alcohol-based hand rub will offer more protection against COVID-19 than wearing gloves.”
NSW Health confirmed hand sanitiser and hand washing was more effective than gloves.
“NSW Health recommends frequent hand washing or the use of hand sanitiser to prevent the
spread of COVID-19,” A NSW Health spokeswoman said.
“This is in line with World Health Organisation advice, which states that hand washing is more effective than wearing gloves, which can pick up contamination from surfaces.”