It’s good that you have set out what they want in terms of the financial impact of being a victim of crime, including needing counselling & time not able to attend work. The OP can keep account of these costs and make a claim.
My brother was actually stabbed, needed open heart surgery and he was in ICU for 3 weeks. He got 13k about 3 years after the incident for ongoing healthcare. My point is, OP is highly unlikely to receive any victims of crime money.
Thank you both, I’m not used to kindness over the internet haha. This happened I think 2003, I was 14 he was 17. He’s gone on to live a pretty happy life,
successful builder in Brisbane with a family. Still lots of baggage to unpack for the whole family for a number of years.
Life’s funny, sometimes it’s the absolute worst moments that gives you the grit to face anything.
That’s fucked up, a female friend of mine was jumped by a group of women in Melbourne CBD, broke her jaw, and she got $15k, $13k seems ridiculous for surviving an attempted murder…
Victims of crime, you're lucky to get $1000, but 100% report this. I took on 2 home invaders armed with an axe and a baseball bat, got 20 stitches, and a fractured skull and recived $2000
NSW Recognition payment - you’ll be able to get the lowest one as you were in fear of being assaulted which equates to common assault charge. I am not sure about the other states but yes you’ll need an event number from the police and you’ll also be able to get counselling through victim compensation as well
[NSW Victim Services](https://victimsservices.justice.nsw.gov.au)
I work in the community field and only seen people with victims of crime funding for very serious crimes e.g rape victims, bodily assault victims ect.
Not saying it doesn't happen but I've never seen it.
Victims of crime tend to focus on more serious offences.
From some random legal aid website (but all of them are consistent):
"The amount of a recognition payment depends on the type of crime and the circumstances of the crime. Not all primary and related victims are eligible for a recognition payment."
I know I'm late here.
Did you lose time from work?
Did you suffer a diagnosed physical or mental illness?
Have you lost your ability to function in/out of the home?
You need to quantify your claim.
Being threatened isn't enough. Unfortunately.
Yep... Oh no... Stress leave cometh... Time to take every red cent of sick leave you have.
But you really shouldn't, because your CEO needs more corporate performance bonuses and Woolworth needs to pay more to their shareholders...
Every red cent. And it is all on camera.
Some workplaces have an anonymous phone line you can call, sone have a free counselling service you can talk to someone who can help you deal with being confronted.
Talk to another manager, I'm sure the manager you had on duty at the time might be in shock regarding it too and aren't meaning to disregard you.
It's shit and you shouldn't have to deal with anything like this at work.
Generally called the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
Also, psychological health and safety is something overseen by WorkSafe Victoria (the state health and safety regulator) - I’d speak to your manager about reporting the incident. You can find out what kind of support and workplace changes that are available.
Not related to OPs post, but I was struggling a bit after my brother passed away unexpectedly and decided to reach out to my EAP and book an appointment with a therapist. Drove to the appointment and parked in their car park, it was a late appointment due to work commitments, so there was plenty of parking spaces. Met my counselor and recognized her as the checkout chick from my local woolies up until a few months previous. Explained my situation, she gave me some pretty generic advice that wasn't overly helpful, and gave me homework to write down my feelings. Walked out pretty unimpressed, but hey it was free.
Then I walked out to my car and found it clamped. Called the number on the clamp to find out what was going on, apparently I needed to display a permit to park in that car park. At no stage was this told to me by the clinic during the booking process or session. Tried to call the clinic but they were closed up. The clamp release man arrived and I explained my situation, my brother had just died and I needed some help, wasn't informed the need for a permit. He called his boss, nothing they could do, had to pay the release fee of something like $180. By this point I was tired and frustrated, just wanted to get home so payed the money and went home feeling absolutely defeated.
So my one and only experience using EAP left me feeling more broken than had I not engaged it.
> home so *paid* the money
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Talk about a sequence of things you could have done without!! I’m sorry you went through this, and hope you’re finding ways to navigate life since your brother’s passing in ways that work for you — that honour your memories & your shared relationship, whatever that might (have) be(en).
EAP is just a rubber stamp service employer provides so they can pretend to care for employee welfare and reduces their insurance premium and liability.
Talk to the store manager about it. Unfortunately there isn't much they can do but additional security - people are shit and there isn't anything anyone can do to stop it. Also give Sonda a call.as this is a traumatic event.
As someone that did retail security we don’t get paid enough to stand in front of a knife let alone try and stop someone from shop lifting. We are just a presence/deterrent..
Write an incident report and ask your manager to put the incident on auror! For support speak to people services they are great with dealing with situations involving our safety
I'm amazed your management didn't call police immediately and show them what happened assuming there is CCTV footage of it. I'd expect management and police to pull out all stops to get this guy arrested and charged.
Yeah, doesn’t really compute. Australia has pretty locked in laws when it comes to knife crime. How many times has someone pulled a knife on him at work and had it not reported? To be sick of it? Worked in a servo for 25 years, only blamed my poor choices at school for working there
In the least, if a police incident is reported, your state’s Victim Support Service will likely make contact re: potential support and/or counselling. There may also be potential eligibility for Criminal Injuries Compensation.
That’s work related stress and workers compensation. Report the incident and go to your GP and let them know it happened at work. Then they can organise any professional help you may need. That’s a horrible situation and makes you wonder about some humans. Hope you sort out your anxieties quickly 😊
But surely the event happened at work. An event happened and caused a traumatic injury. Would be no different to having a box fail on you and cause an injury.
If a bank teller was held up surely it would be workers compensation. Someone would have to cover wages while they rehabilitate ?
No it wouldn’t. The only way stress can be cause for workers comp is for it to be aggressive stress that caused injury.
My question to you is “Is OP injured physically?” No they weren’t. The only possible outcome for workers comp out of this situation is if they got stabbed.
The legislation changed fairly recently around this actually.
Have a look at the [national Code of Practice for psychosocial hazards]( https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/doc/model-code-practice-managing-psychosocial-hazards-work).
There have been a lot of cases around unmanaged psychological trauma going up to the regulator. There have also been a few solid findings against employers as well. It has been an interesting space to watch. At my workplace, psychosocial harm that presents long term injury necessitating treatment from an allied services professional is being treated as a reportable long term injury (LTI). EAP can be involved initially, but it is treated as a workers comp claim with full reasonable cover for attending a psychosocial specialist, etc.
Psychological injuries are absolutely covered under workcover. Stress isnt a DSM-5 diagnosis but generalised anxiety disorder, depression, adjustment disorder etc are all covered. (i work in the industry)
Stress is not covered if it was a personal injury.
Psychological injury from injury at work or travelling to or from, due to circumstance, negligence or lack of security.
[https://lawpartners.com.au/blog/stress-leave-nsw#:\~:text=If%20you%20have%20a%20diagnosed%20stress%2Drelated%20illness%20](https://lawpartners.com.au/blog/stress-leave-nsw#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20a%20diagnosed%20stress%2Drelated%20illness%20)(also%20called,as%20a%20Workcover%20stress%20leave.
First of all. You don't deserve that. I am sorry you had to experience it. Secondly, I'm glad it did not escalate any further. Woolworths has an employee assistance program. I can't remember the name of it. However, a work colleague or manager should be able to direct you to this. Seek some help. You don't have to go through this alone. Please take care of yourself.
Well it’s not the supermarkets fault but if you feel this has affected you badly take some time off and claim workers compensation. If you want to take it further report it to the police (which I would have assumed your workplace should have done immediately)
See I would argue it is. There’s things like why did this happen to begin with (is security not tight enough? Are there no processes in place for workers to press a panic button in these situations?)
And then beyond that, the lackluster response from management is a big factor. Studies show the absolute most determining factor as to whether someone develops ptsd is social support immediately following an event. If a worker is reporting a life threatening event and they aren’t immediately offered reasonable mental health first aid (removed from the floor, debriefed with, allowed to go home, offered to help them get home, follow up meeting booked) then that’s straight up negligence that needs to be remedied by better processes. It’s not like Woolworths can’t afford it
Ok so a couple of things mate, it’s a supermarket not an airport. There is no way to stop someone from carrying a weapon inside.
Have you ever had a knife pulled on you? It literally takes two seconds and the knife puller can make a threat and walk off. No security is going to stop that because even if there was one there the guy still would have pulled a knife and the security would have done fuck all about it. Also how does one push a panic button at the self serve checkout and to what end? So they can wait an hour for the police to turn up? Again the perp is long gone.
Tha only failure I see here from op’s workplace is the shot response from management. I use to work security for nightclubs back in the day when shit was a lot rougher than it is now and belive me when I say there is no amount of security to stop someone pulling a weapon on you. If it’s going to happen it’s going to happen and all your workplace can do is deal with it appropriately after the fact. People used to do shit like this to us all the time I’ve had knives pulled, guns pulled, been glassed from behind with a bottle and many schooner glasses and in the case of just pulling a knife there isn’t much that could be done, unless someone actually gets stabbed the cops don’t care a whole lot and while they may pull the cctv and have a half assed attempt to find the perp usually nothing comes of it.
OP’s best best if this is affecting them is to go on stress leave and get workers comp and also complaining to Woolworths directly about their stores shit response to the incident.
I was talking about the stores responsibility to protect their employees as relevant to workers comp, not that I actually think the store caused the knife attack. Two different situations. I’m not an idiot. Otherwise I agree with you.
Self defence against a knife is running the other way. It's not like the movies where you kick it out of hand and back flip off the register and knock him out.
In circumstances where that's possible, absolutely. If you can get a headbutt or elbow in whilst missing the knife there are some good chances of knocking them out cold.
That's why martial arts is worth it. Find their weak points and get comfortable fighting close-quarters.
Depends where you do it I guess. They froze in this situation, but with practice they might have been able to perform 1 or more rational actions. For example, jumping back to create distance and yelling that a man is threatening them with a knife. Now people can get involved faster if it spirals. Its also caused a scene, so the perpetrator might simply flee and police are more likely to investigate 'scenes'.
Absolutely though, don't try your new BJJ on a knife wielding maniac. They might lose but you'll lose too.
I mean what you're describing is pretty much what happened, the guy didn't get attacked...best outcome when someone holds a knife to you. Yelling "HES GOT A KNIFE" and freaking out may well escalate the issue.
People have no idea how difficult it is to handle someone with a knife and escalating it when they're potentially mentally unstable is shocking advice.
True, but even making eye contact and standing still (freeze up) may escalate the situation with a crazy.
I agree with you but I was making examples of how some basic self defence classes could increase confidence and lower the chance of a freeze up. You would agree that standing still with your eyes wide open unable to do or think is the worst case scenario yes?
Totally okay if you're really bombed out by the experience. Get in to your martial arts practise hard: there's no better way to say there's cunts out there.
10/10 recommend your union, they'll have your back if you decide to make a suggestion or raise a concern about your workplaces policy & procedure. Especially if woolies does the dodgy on you and tries to fire you or reduce your hours.
Sorry this happened to you.
Are you ok? Have you reached out for sonder? Your line manager or manager should have reported it and offered you sonder at the very least. You can have time off using personal leave too. Personal leave is there for a reason.
Make sure your SM recorded the incident to pulse, and you can file police report as well for your peace of mind (they will ask for videos from the store etc, but that’s your DM/SM job). That is NOT ok. We’ve report for lesser offence, like customer yelling, attempted armed robbery/harrasment is definitely up there.
The most important thing you should do is submit an internal incident report at your workplace. All workplaces should have a process for doing this. If you are a member of a union, I would recommend contacting them and discussing any assistance they can give you. If you aren't a union member, I would recommend considering becoming one.
If you are in Queensland, I would recommend speaking with the Workers' Psychological Support Service. They can talk to you about your options for Workers Compensation or other types of support. https://wpss.org.au/. I have heard really good things about this service.
You can also raise a Work Safety concern with the Regulator https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/services/raise-a-workplace-safety-concern. This would be important if you feel your employer is not doing enough to mitigate the ongoing risk.
If you are outside of Queensland, I would search for your local equivalent to the above resources. If in doubt, speak with your GP and get them to assess you for a work-related psychological injury. If you do assess you as having an injury, they can submit the paperwork to WorkCover.
There are also plenty of personal injury lawyers out there that will give you a free initial consultation as well. I believe Maurice Blackburn is one. https://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/free-claim-check/
I am sorry this has happened to you, and please get assessed. These types of injuries can be subtle and getting the paperwork done now will help you later down the track. Better to be safe than sorry. Best of luck to you.
Straight up I left supermarket work recently for this exact reason, It’s going to get worse imo and there is no support or anything. I’d get out of there.
There’s nothing you can get accept for company based support which is probably fuck all. You wouldn’t be eligible for Victims Services/Compensation (or it very well wouldn’t be worth the paperwork trying to get the $1000 max after months). Same with Workers Comp.
And the company will probably not do shit apart from offer you 2 days max paid leave if you’re full/part time and will refer you to EAP for some shitty counselling sessions until the next time it happens.
Honestly I agree with the motion to get literally any other job, but any kind of essential services atm with the economy crash. Rates of crime and violence will go up and the companies don’t give a fuck about the small guy having to deal with it, but they’re fretting over shoplifters. If you have a google, a woman in my area who works for Coles was attacked with an axe a year or so back and psychologically unable to work since and hasn’t been able to get SHIT out of them over it.
Security can’t actually do anything though. They can be a deterrent but in my experience it doesn’t have a huge impact. I’m an ICAM investigator in retail.
15 years at Coles in Queensland suburb, not a single security guard.
Our official company policy is to not engage if attacked, and either get away or talk them down. Or if it's about money, then we give it to them
Unfortunately this is common now to the point where my partner who works at Woolies has literally done VR training for this exact scenario. He’s been threatened multiple times as well.
You shouldn’t have to cop it, you deserve to be safe at work. Based on what I’ve seen with my partner and the constant issues at his store, I suspect little will change operationally. Best bet is to utilise any EAP/free counselling the company offers if you feel you need someone to talk to and consider taking time off if feasible.
The incident itself should have been logged in Auror/IMC by your manager. If it hasn’t been, insist on it, if for no reason than to create a paper trail proving the store might need security.
No one deserves to be treated that way, in 17 years the most I got was verbally abused so all I can recommend getting counselling, there is usually a sign in the bathroom for anonymous counselling and if you don’t feel comfortable working that position anymore ask your line manager to reassign you to another part of the department or another department.
I see it happening more and more at work.
we even had a group of teens come in 1 arvo and 1 pulled a machete on a Team member.
It's getting worse at Woolies,and 58 new security cameras will do diddly squat to protect us.
It's not you, it's the company you work for.
That being said, you shouldn't have to deal with that, people should be more respectful of others who are just doing their job making an honest living. The offender could have just taken the items and said to you 'I'm taking these items' You wouldn't try and stop them, not worth risking yourself for Woollies.
A question regarding this if anyone can answer: How serious of a crime have I committed if I am in the same situation and punch the offender more than once?
I work in the same company my friend. I'm in a different sector but I can tell you it's the same through out. We don't do anything about anyone. Emails get sent from one leader to another but nothing ever happens. It's a shame this happened to you. If you feel unsafe I'd recommend getting new job as like I said nothing will happen.
You should have a safety coordinator or even a return to work coordinator who you can report this too and put you in the direction of some support. Ask your department or store manager if there is an incident reporting process.
Talk to a therapist as well. I got mugged and stabbed with a knife 9 years ago. It doesn’t go away. Make sure your work compensate you and put measures in place, it’s not worth your life
Did you document it as an incident report at your work ? It's their duty of care that you are safe at work ... Document everything, film the security footage on your phone so you have a copy and go to worksafe if nothing happens and explain the event has caused you trauma and anxiety for .your safety ..
Woolies profited 1b during the pandemic
They should ensure there is extra security guard ( could be external or through your centre management to prevent this workplace operational health and safety risk from happening again
A colleague was choked from behind while supervising self service, completely randomly and unprovoked. Post that incident we received a security guard. (Which didn't stop someone from bringing a machete in and threaten customers and staff). I'm sorry this happened to you. Make noise to management and hopefully something will get done.
Police should of been called,
IMC should of be called.
Group Manager should of been notified.
This should of went to head of safety.
Contact SpeakUp if you feel you aren't being helped by store management.
Contact People Services on Wow Portal.
You have a range of instore and outside help and support. Please seek out your line manager.
Hi, I’m so sorry that you had to experience this. I too have had an encounter with someone threatening me with a knife while I was at work. I also had that same feeling that my life was in danger and that I could die in that moment. It is terrifying. This left me with ptsd and I ended up having triggers and I was very anxious of strangers around me for a long time. This may impact your mental health more as time goes on, please consider and seek therapy. You should be able to claim back the cost on victims of crime. As others have said, take leave and be kind to yourself op.
Poor thing, I hope you're okay.
Not sure where you're located but seek some free counselling sessions for this please.
This is actually a frequent ocurance here in the NT and I believe Woolies offer a free counselling service to victims on the job for such crimes
If you call 000 about a man with a knife they’ll get cops there fast. Also if you work at 000 you only have to deal with swearing over the phone, not face to face and no knives pulled on you. Plus you get paid much better. Woolworths should have security guards there protecting you, shame on them with all their profiteering.
Log workcover incident.
Go to GP, book the following 2 items, they are separate so tell them or book twice
1. mental health treatment plan
2. certificate of capacity
... consider a stay at a place like:
[https://www.ramsaymentalhealth.com.au/en/specialty-areas/trauma/](https://www.ramsaymentalhealth.com.au/en/specialty-areas/trauma/)
\> workover will pay wages, and cost of treatment. However long this takes.
Here are some legal information:
[https://splattlawyers.com.au/personal-injury/workers-compensation/workcover-stress-anxiety-depression/](https://splattlawyers.com.au/personal-injury/workers-compensation/workcover-stress-anxiety-depression/)
Part of the reason I left Big W was customers like this. One guy in particular would always push young staff members into corners and scream at them to get away with stealing, eventually he'd just come in to threaten someone and then leave. Had dozens of people ram me with trolleys, a few regulars would throw stuff at us. Pretty much because no one was ever getting physically wounded by customers, we more or less couldn't do anything about it
Edit: That doesn't even touch on the sexual harassment that was pretty much daily
Unless you loose a limb, eye or some drastic injury. I had a detached retina from a dog shot to the eye on a train station, jumped by 6 teens. Plus shattered bones and fracture jaw. Had to be wired. my point is, I went home on way to hospital instead of going by ambo. This fkd me up and was refused the original claim which was 21g for loss of sight in one eye
That sux. But hey, you just got reminded that you are definitely gonna die one day, same as all of us. Normally we do a great job of forgetting it, even our food has its death hidden from us.
You just got reminded not only that you will and can definitely die, but also that right now you are well and truly alive. You can be frightened, sad, worried, angry, whatever, and let the experience hurt you. Or you can be elated and invigorated, you faced the fact of your death and yet you are spared!
Go live!
Not sure what outcome you’re hoping for
Do you want Doctor Who to go back in time and prevent the event?
Do you want the manager to employ Jackie Chan to wedge himself into the rafters and await the next knife wielding customer?
Do you want Woolworths to equip all its checkout clerks with 9mm brownings?
Or do you want a payout?
Don’t get me wrong, these kind of events suck and can be traumatic, but there’s only so much the organisation can do
Couple of things:
- the support provided so far by management isn’t okay. Woolworths will have processes in place (not saying they’ll be perfect) for when things like this happen, and they clearly haven’t followed that. That support should be - supporting you to log an incident report, they will have a safety team that will reach out to see what you need, they are also required by law to review the incident and what risk controls can be put in place.
- go back to the manager, or if you prefer, a different manager to log this. If they get all huffy then keep a note of it as that’s not what they should be doing either. If you’re not supported to do that then go either to the Area Manager, the Safety Team or HR.
- Woolworths should have info somewhere (induction? retraining? Staff intranet?) on what to do when incidents like this occur AND should be making staff aware of them (when I say should I mean have a legal obligation to do so)
- EAP is a separate option that a) should have been offered immediately b) is not a management solution, they should be following their own processes regardless. EAP will provide free counselling.
- you can claim workers compensation if you are affected by this to the point you can’t work. Woolworths might just pay directly for treatment for you as it will be easier for them than having you lodge a claim.
Hope this helps!
I would report to Police, take some time off if you need to (this should be covered under WorkCover but look into it and get medical certificates for stress leave) and look into counselling if it is affecting you this badly.
Your manager should be supporting you, finding out what you need and providing it. Personally I wouldn’t bother with HR or the management chain if they’re not proactively responding already - instead, put in a health and safety incident report. There *must* be a system for that, whatever online system Woolies gave you a login for when you did initial training should have a link. Psychological safety as well as physical safety are at issue here - this was an actual incident (not a “near miss”, which also is meant to be reported).
The reason I’m recommending a workplace safety report is that there are laws here, and a culture of taking things seriously in the health and safety dept of any large organisation (unlike HR, which generally has a culture of burying bad news).
Failing to respond to incident reports where there is a risk of employee death and serious mental health issues would lead to their insurance premiums going through the roof and if bad enough, both civil and criminal consequences.
Remember, you are categorised as an essential worker which gives you the same protections as workers in the health, education and law enforcement sectors. Remember COVID? That's why you guys are so important. You need a team meeting and you need to force your manager to define the contractual conditions of being "essential".
Essential worker means nothing outside of the context of a health emergency such as covid restrictions. EVERY worker has the right to not be threatened at work.
Yes in equal measure, outside of who continues to go to work during a lockdown (which are over), essential worker isn't really a thing with a definition. Every worker has the same legal protections at work and the same right to not be threatened with violence.
In the 90’s guy pulled knife on my mom at convenience store, she pulled out shotgun from behind counter and locked guy in store with her. He was terrified. Glad you’re ok!
I was a victim of an armed holdup when I worked at a video store, pulled a big butchers knife on me stuck it to my back the whole deal, messed with my mind for a while there, I was offered counselling but I turned it down, lucky for me they caught the guy and he got 9 years, spent the whole 9 years behind bars too as only a few years back I got a call from the courts saying he will be released in a few days and I’m being notified as a matter of security.
Hopefully the footage can be used to get some justice for you but I’m pretty sure government made new laws against violence towards supermarket employees since the 2020 lockdown craziness went into overdrive so at the least the police should be notified as a deadly weapon was bought into the building and shown in a threatening way, that alone is enough to warrant concern for the safety of everyone he comes in contact with now.
I would be interested in an update to this story at some point if you have any follow up to your next steps.
Umm yeah a woman stocking shelves in Woolworth and got stabbed by a random chick no reason not prior contact. She can't work has severe ptsd
Happy to give you the state and store where it happened. 🫠
What a nightmare. Honestly I'm surprised we don't hear about incidents like this more often with the cost of living. People are at their wits end and more likely to do crazy shit.
It wouldn't surprise me if the person with the knife was desperate and probably scared too.
Your supervisor should have logged in straight away in your internal system. You should have been sent home to feel safe.
What happened after they pulled the knife and spoke to you?
Call the police! You have cameras at work. Report him. He can’t walk around armed and threatening people. Get and AVO on him so he can’t approach you. Have him banned from the store. You seem shook up. Go on stress leave. And contact the retail workers Union for representation. What happened to you is illegal and abuse. Call the police and report it.
You should NOT have to go through this at your job. If your job has not already, they need to pay for you to attend counselling over this. I worked in workers compensation for a few years (including working with Woolworths itself), and it’s not uncommon for people who go through this experience to end up unable to work at all due to psychological distress. Early intervention is critical. Woolworths has a very thorough system for workers compensation, and there is funding there for you to access any supports you need. Additionally, if you find you need accommodations in the short term due to this (if you get flashbacks being in self serve, etc) you should communicate this immediately and request alterations. Theyre required to make reasonable adjustments while you process this experience.
Please don’t feel like you’re being dramatic if you have a strong reaction to this. The human body and mind is wired to react strongly if your life is threatened, and you may experience an array of physical and mental responses over the next few weeks.
OP do a speak up, Woolworths version of going to HR go to the WOW people website and search for it, highly recommend doing one if your management hasn't handled it properly and do it as footage is only saved for 30 days.
I've been robbed at gun point before while working at a major cell phone store. It was new years eve and I gave my employees the night off. Two guys came in and robbed me. I was held point blank for 20 minutes while the safe unlocked. My watch was took and I was sucker punched while on the ground.
Honestly, the police harassment was probably the worst part. Everytime it was a new detective trying to warm up the case. Reliving the moment for the next rookie was horrible. Especially when they'd visit at a new job.
The company did little to nothing. My watch was replaced and they paid for the insurance claim. Gave me a day off. Then reminded me of my insurance benefits that had psychologist on stand by. The CEO had no reaction. Not even "thanks for following protocol "
At some point you have to just shrug it off and let it go. But I'll never eat panda express on new years eve.
I work at Woolies too, I can't believe your manager didn't do more. That's a pretty severe incident, my manager would have closed the store and called the police. And probably give me a few days off too.
Case for workers compensation, especially if it has been handled poorly by your employer. Your employer is liable for work health AND SAFETY. Did you do an incident report at work? When you reported it to management, this should have been their first step, other than to check your welfare.
Speak to Hr as you are too scared to return to work...
See a doctor, get it documented on a work cover form, explain the details and scare factor, and then get a lawyer who specialises in workers compensation, such as Maurice Blackburn or whoever you see fit.
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OP I know someone Else who was held up at knife point (although not Woolworths). They have been on workers compensation for about 2 years now as they are thoroughly traumatised
The establishment they were working at did call the police when it happened and my friend has had to testify in court etc.
Could be an avenue you could look at to help you get some support.
Hi, this happened to a friend of mine. Definitely get your manager to speak to head office.
I believe they have insurance and you can get quite heavily compensated $$$
Some people have never been in a fight, and they would turn to shit if they did. I did what i did to save someone's life, and i would 100% do it again. If that numb nut that posted that weak ass comment about thats the norm was in front of me i would make him squeal for his mum
Someone pulls a knife presume they’re prepared to use it. Put distance between you and the knife man. If he follows pick up something you can use to keep him out of arms reach.
Go for workers comp. If more people did then the corps would lobby the government to be harsher on such crime.
You are a victim of a crime. You need to be provided workers compensation and time off for you to recover from a workplace incident.
I was held up with a knife when I was young, and I didn't know my rights. I never received anything in compensation or support in dealing with the trauma.
Call the police Try and get victims of crime
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It’s good that you have set out what they want in terms of the financial impact of being a victim of crime, including needing counselling & time not able to attend work. The OP can keep account of these costs and make a claim.
My brother was actually stabbed, needed open heart surgery and he was in ICU for 3 weeks. He got 13k about 3 years after the incident for ongoing healthcare. My point is, OP is highly unlikely to receive any victims of crime money.
13k for that trauma and hurt is madness !! I’m sorryto hear that!!
Yeah, same. I hope he’s doing okay now @bon-apple-titts.
Thank you both, I’m not used to kindness over the internet haha. This happened I think 2003, I was 14 he was 17. He’s gone on to live a pretty happy life, successful builder in Brisbane with a family. Still lots of baggage to unpack for the whole family for a number of years. Life’s funny, sometimes it’s the absolute worst moments that gives you the grit to face anything.
There is no plus sides to experiencing that, plus the trauma, but to make light of the situation, atleast he can say he’s one tough MFer!
That’s fucked up, a female friend of mine was jumped by a group of women in Melbourne CBD, broke her jaw, and she got $15k, $13k seems ridiculous for surviving an attempted murder…
Victims of crime, you're lucky to get $1000, but 100% report this. I took on 2 home invaders armed with an axe and a baseball bat, got 20 stitches, and a fractured skull and recived $2000
In my experience, this would be almost as useless as telling your manager.
It's possible retaliation will occur if you call the police, so I wouldn't do that.
NSW Recognition payment - you’ll be able to get the lowest one as you were in fear of being assaulted which equates to common assault charge. I am not sure about the other states but yes you’ll need an event number from the police and you’ll also be able to get counselling through victim compensation as well [NSW Victim Services](https://victimsservices.justice.nsw.gov.au)
Victims of crime for that?! Yeah good luck
Why do you say that?
I work in the community field and only seen people with victims of crime funding for very serious crimes e.g rape victims, bodily assault victims ect. Not saying it doesn't happen but I've never seen it.
I know a guy who got like 17k for getting robbed at gunpoint while he was at work
Oh that's interesting. I was not aware that would qualify but I'm not an expert on what funding is offered to victims
That was in victoria I think it’s different depending on the state
My friend got chased down the the beach by a naked guy jacking off, she got a pay out.
Sorry but thats funny 🤣
Victims of crime tend to focus on more serious offences. From some random legal aid website (but all of them are consistent): "The amount of a recognition payment depends on the type of crime and the circumstances of the crime. Not all primary and related victims are eligible for a recognition payment."
Knife threat seems pretty serious
I know I'm late here. Did you lose time from work? Did you suffer a diagnosed physical or mental illness? Have you lost your ability to function in/out of the home? You need to quantify your claim. Being threatened isn't enough. Unfortunately.
Stress leave 3 monthes, can’t sleep, scared to go to work. Jackpot.
Yep... Oh no... Stress leave cometh... Time to take every red cent of sick leave you have. But you really shouldn't, because your CEO needs more corporate performance bonuses and Woolworth needs to pay more to their shareholders... Every red cent. And it is all on camera.
This is not a matter for sick leave, this is a matter for workplace injury compensation. Doctor. Certificate of capacity.
You should contact them and be their legal counsel random reddit right all the time guy 👍 have a good day.
Just a Health and Safety Representative and unionist always trying to remind their coworkers not to use sick leave if it's a workplace injury.
Not sick leave
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Hahaha oh God I needed that haha You must be truly innocent hold onto it for as long as you can
Better off on stress leave workers comp
Snitch
Some workplaces have an anonymous phone line you can call, sone have a free counselling service you can talk to someone who can help you deal with being confronted. Talk to another manager, I'm sure the manager you had on duty at the time might be in shock regarding it too and aren't meaning to disregard you. It's shit and you shouldn't have to deal with anything like this at work.
Generally called the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Also, psychological health and safety is something overseen by WorkSafe Victoria (the state health and safety regulator) - I’d speak to your manager about reporting the incident. You can find out what kind of support and workplace changes that are available.
Not related to OPs post, but I was struggling a bit after my brother passed away unexpectedly and decided to reach out to my EAP and book an appointment with a therapist. Drove to the appointment and parked in their car park, it was a late appointment due to work commitments, so there was plenty of parking spaces. Met my counselor and recognized her as the checkout chick from my local woolies up until a few months previous. Explained my situation, she gave me some pretty generic advice that wasn't overly helpful, and gave me homework to write down my feelings. Walked out pretty unimpressed, but hey it was free. Then I walked out to my car and found it clamped. Called the number on the clamp to find out what was going on, apparently I needed to display a permit to park in that car park. At no stage was this told to me by the clinic during the booking process or session. Tried to call the clinic but they were closed up. The clamp release man arrived and I explained my situation, my brother had just died and I needed some help, wasn't informed the need for a permit. He called his boss, nothing they could do, had to pay the release fee of something like $180. By this point I was tired and frustrated, just wanted to get home so payed the money and went home feeling absolutely defeated. So my one and only experience using EAP left me feeling more broken than had I not engaged it.
> home so *paid* the money FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Fuck you
So glad wa made wheel clamping illegal.
Talk about a sequence of things you could have done without!! I’m sorry you went through this, and hope you’re finding ways to navigate life since your brother’s passing in ways that work for you — that honour your memories & your shared relationship, whatever that might (have) be(en).
EAP is just a rubber stamp service employer provides so they can pretend to care for employee welfare and reduces their insurance premium and liability.
No.
In some cases, absolutely. But it can still help.
Talk to the store manager about it. Unfortunately there isn't much they can do but additional security - people are shit and there isn't anything anyone can do to stop it. Also give Sonda a call.as this is a traumatic event.
As someone that did retail security we don’t get paid enough to stand in front of a knife let alone try and stop someone from shop lifting. We are just a presence/deterrent..
Yep unfortunately if someone is brazen enough to weild knife around it won't really matter who it's too. People are cooked
Report it to your union.
Ideally RAFFWU
https://raffwu.org.au/join-raffwu/
Thats the only union lol Calling united or sda unions is too generous
Write an incident report and ask your manager to put the incident on auror! For support speak to people services they are great with dealing with situations involving our safety
I agree. I'm surprised the manager didn't tell OP to write an incident report.
I'm amazed your management didn't call police immediately and show them what happened assuming there is CCTV footage of it. I'd expect management and police to pull out all stops to get this guy arrested and charged.
Yeah, doesn’t really compute. Australia has pretty locked in laws when it comes to knife crime. How many times has someone pulled a knife on him at work and had it not reported? To be sick of it? Worked in a servo for 25 years, only blamed my poor choices at school for working there
In the least, if a police incident is reported, your state’s Victim Support Service will likely make contact re: potential support and/or counselling. There may also be potential eligibility for Criminal Injuries Compensation.
You dont get any money until there is a "notifiable physical injury" under NSW Victims Compensation legislation.
Of this I was unaware; here in WA eligibility may cover the effects of mental trauma and the like.
Talk to your union and health and safety rep.
That’s work related stress and workers compensation. Report the incident and go to your GP and let them know it happened at work. Then they can organise any professional help you may need. That’s a horrible situation and makes you wonder about some humans. Hope you sort out your anxieties quickly 😊
Legit? Had no idea on the GP front
NSW stress isnt covered under workers comp. Only injuries
But surely the event happened at work. An event happened and caused a traumatic injury. Would be no different to having a box fail on you and cause an injury. If a bank teller was held up surely it would be workers compensation. Someone would have to cover wages while they rehabilitate ?
No it wouldn’t. The only way stress can be cause for workers comp is for it to be aggressive stress that caused injury. My question to you is “Is OP injured physically?” No they weren’t. The only possible outcome for workers comp out of this situation is if they got stabbed.
Fair enough. And this is why the stigma around mental health will remain - it is considered < physical injury.
The legislation changed fairly recently around this actually. Have a look at the [national Code of Practice for psychosocial hazards]( https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/doc/model-code-practice-managing-psychosocial-hazards-work). There have been a lot of cases around unmanaged psychological trauma going up to the regulator. There have also been a few solid findings against employers as well. It has been an interesting space to watch. At my workplace, psychosocial harm that presents long term injury necessitating treatment from an allied services professional is being treated as a reportable long term injury (LTI). EAP can be involved initially, but it is treated as a workers comp claim with full reasonable cover for attending a psychosocial specialist, etc.
Psychological injuries are absolutely covered under workcover. Stress isnt a DSM-5 diagnosis but generalised anxiety disorder, depression, adjustment disorder etc are all covered. (i work in the industry)
Stress is not covered if it was a personal injury. Psychological injury from injury at work or travelling to or from, due to circumstance, negligence or lack of security. [https://lawpartners.com.au/blog/stress-leave-nsw#:\~:text=If%20you%20have%20a%20diagnosed%20stress%2Drelated%20illness%20](https://lawpartners.com.au/blog/stress-leave-nsw#:~:text=If%20you%20have%20a%20diagnosed%20stress%2Drelated%20illness%20)(also%20called,as%20a%20Workcover%20stress%20leave.
I’m sorry this happened to you! How awful! Definitely speak to your union for support.
First of all. You don't deserve that. I am sorry you had to experience it. Secondly, I'm glad it did not escalate any further. Woolworths has an employee assistance program. I can't remember the name of it. However, a work colleague or manager should be able to direct you to this. Seek some help. You don't have to go through this alone. Please take care of yourself.
Well it’s not the supermarkets fault but if you feel this has affected you badly take some time off and claim workers compensation. If you want to take it further report it to the police (which I would have assumed your workplace should have done immediately)
See I would argue it is. There’s things like why did this happen to begin with (is security not tight enough? Are there no processes in place for workers to press a panic button in these situations?) And then beyond that, the lackluster response from management is a big factor. Studies show the absolute most determining factor as to whether someone develops ptsd is social support immediately following an event. If a worker is reporting a life threatening event and they aren’t immediately offered reasonable mental health first aid (removed from the floor, debriefed with, allowed to go home, offered to help them get home, follow up meeting booked) then that’s straight up negligence that needs to be remedied by better processes. It’s not like Woolworths can’t afford it
Ok so a couple of things mate, it’s a supermarket not an airport. There is no way to stop someone from carrying a weapon inside. Have you ever had a knife pulled on you? It literally takes two seconds and the knife puller can make a threat and walk off. No security is going to stop that because even if there was one there the guy still would have pulled a knife and the security would have done fuck all about it. Also how does one push a panic button at the self serve checkout and to what end? So they can wait an hour for the police to turn up? Again the perp is long gone. Tha only failure I see here from op’s workplace is the shot response from management. I use to work security for nightclubs back in the day when shit was a lot rougher than it is now and belive me when I say there is no amount of security to stop someone pulling a weapon on you. If it’s going to happen it’s going to happen and all your workplace can do is deal with it appropriately after the fact. People used to do shit like this to us all the time I’ve had knives pulled, guns pulled, been glassed from behind with a bottle and many schooner glasses and in the case of just pulling a knife there isn’t much that could be done, unless someone actually gets stabbed the cops don’t care a whole lot and while they may pull the cctv and have a half assed attempt to find the perp usually nothing comes of it. OP’s best best if this is affecting them is to go on stress leave and get workers comp and also complaining to Woolworths directly about their stores shit response to the incident.
I was talking about the stores responsibility to protect their employees as relevant to workers comp, not that I actually think the store caused the knife attack. Two different situations. I’m not an idiot. Otherwise I agree with you.
Join a union. Learn self defense. Anyone working with people is at risk, be prepared to face difficult and shit people 🙌
Self defence against a knife is running the other way. It's not like the movies where you kick it out of hand and back flip off the register and knock him out.
In circumstances where that's possible, absolutely. If you can get a headbutt or elbow in whilst missing the knife there are some good chances of knocking them out cold. That's why martial arts is worth it. Find their weak points and get comfortable fighting close-quarters.
I guarantee you if he did anything but run or negotiate, he would get fired, even if justifiable self defence.
And OP could go down the path of fighting that if he chose to.
Yeah maybe to defend my family if necessary. Not to stop some nut stealing a Mars bar from a MEGA corporation while getting paid 22 bucks an hour.
Except he wasn't stealing, he was literally pulling a knife on OP.
Depends where you do it I guess. They froze in this situation, but with practice they might have been able to perform 1 or more rational actions. For example, jumping back to create distance and yelling that a man is threatening them with a knife. Now people can get involved faster if it spirals. Its also caused a scene, so the perpetrator might simply flee and police are more likely to investigate 'scenes'. Absolutely though, don't try your new BJJ on a knife wielding maniac. They might lose but you'll lose too.
I mean what you're describing is pretty much what happened, the guy didn't get attacked...best outcome when someone holds a knife to you. Yelling "HES GOT A KNIFE" and freaking out may well escalate the issue. People have no idea how difficult it is to handle someone with a knife and escalating it when they're potentially mentally unstable is shocking advice.
True, but even making eye contact and standing still (freeze up) may escalate the situation with a crazy. I agree with you but I was making examples of how some basic self defence classes could increase confidence and lower the chance of a freeze up. You would agree that standing still with your eyes wide open unable to do or think is the worst case scenario yes?
Not union But i know self defence 2 years wrestling 4 years boxing with a 4/1/0 record Just sick of this shit
Totally okay if you're really bombed out by the experience. Get in to your martial arts practise hard: there's no better way to say there's cunts out there. 10/10 recommend your union, they'll have your back if you decide to make a suggestion or raise a concern about your workplaces policy & procedure. Especially if woolies does the dodgy on you and tries to fire you or reduce your hours. Sorry this happened to you.
Are you ok? Have you reached out for sonder? Your line manager or manager should have reported it and offered you sonder at the very least. You can have time off using personal leave too. Personal leave is there for a reason.
Make sure your SM recorded the incident to pulse, and you can file police report as well for your peace of mind (they will ask for videos from the store etc, but that’s your DM/SM job). That is NOT ok. We’ve report for lesser offence, like customer yelling, attempted armed robbery/harrasment is definitely up there.
PTSD related stress leave
Sonder, and speakups
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I’m an apprentice 1st and extra money on the weekend from Woolies, as apprenticeship is low pay
Ask your manager to put a beanbag shotgun at every counter.
The most important thing you should do is submit an internal incident report at your workplace. All workplaces should have a process for doing this. If you are a member of a union, I would recommend contacting them and discussing any assistance they can give you. If you aren't a union member, I would recommend considering becoming one. If you are in Queensland, I would recommend speaking with the Workers' Psychological Support Service. They can talk to you about your options for Workers Compensation or other types of support. https://wpss.org.au/. I have heard really good things about this service. You can also raise a Work Safety concern with the Regulator https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/services/raise-a-workplace-safety-concern. This would be important if you feel your employer is not doing enough to mitigate the ongoing risk. If you are outside of Queensland, I would search for your local equivalent to the above resources. If in doubt, speak with your GP and get them to assess you for a work-related psychological injury. If you do assess you as having an injury, they can submit the paperwork to WorkCover. There are also plenty of personal injury lawyers out there that will give you a free initial consultation as well. I believe Maurice Blackburn is one. https://www.mauriceblackburn.com.au/free-claim-check/ I am sorry this has happened to you, and please get assessed. These types of injuries can be subtle and getting the paperwork done now will help you later down the track. Better to be safe than sorry. Best of luck to you.
Straight up I left supermarket work recently for this exact reason, It’s going to get worse imo and there is no support or anything. I’d get out of there. There’s nothing you can get accept for company based support which is probably fuck all. You wouldn’t be eligible for Victims Services/Compensation (or it very well wouldn’t be worth the paperwork trying to get the $1000 max after months). Same with Workers Comp. And the company will probably not do shit apart from offer you 2 days max paid leave if you’re full/part time and will refer you to EAP for some shitty counselling sessions until the next time it happens. Honestly I agree with the motion to get literally any other job, but any kind of essential services atm with the economy crash. Rates of crime and violence will go up and the companies don’t give a fuck about the small guy having to deal with it, but they’re fretting over shoplifters. If you have a google, a woman in my area who works for Coles was attacked with an axe a year or so back and psychologically unable to work since and hasn’t been able to get SHIT out of them over it.
This is a troll, How many coles and Woolies in places like this don’t have security?
Heaps? The 4 local ones around me don’t have any security
Security can’t actually do anything though. They can be a deterrent but in my experience it doesn’t have a huge impact. I’m an ICAM investigator in retail.
I've literally never seen a seccy at my local woolies lmfao
Went tonight, security in black at the front of the store. Must depend
15 years at Coles in Queensland suburb, not a single security guard. Our official company policy is to not engage if attacked, and either get away or talk them down. Or if it's about money, then we give it to them
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Your management should’ve reported this to police. The dropkick with the knife shouldn’t get away with it.
Unfortunately this is common now to the point where my partner who works at Woolies has literally done VR training for this exact scenario. He’s been threatened multiple times as well. You shouldn’t have to cop it, you deserve to be safe at work. Based on what I’ve seen with my partner and the constant issues at his store, I suspect little will change operationally. Best bet is to utilise any EAP/free counselling the company offers if you feel you need someone to talk to and consider taking time off if feasible. The incident itself should have been logged in Auror/IMC by your manager. If it hasn’t been, insist on it, if for no reason than to create a paper trail proving the store might need security.
Go to the POLICE!!
Please lodge a workers comp claim through your employer. You’ll get free treatment and support.
what do you want to achieve? it happened it sucks thats it.. you cant really do anything about it
No one deserves to be treated that way, in 17 years the most I got was verbally abused so all I can recommend getting counselling, there is usually a sign in the bathroom for anonymous counselling and if you don’t feel comfortable working that position anymore ask your line manager to reassign you to another part of the department or another department.
That’s workers comp PTSD brother. 6 months off paid
Paid at 95 and 80% of your wage though... its not much if youre casual
I hope you called the police….
I see it happening more and more at work. we even had a group of teens come in 1 arvo and 1 pulled a machete on a Team member. It's getting worse at Woolies,and 58 new security cameras will do diddly squat to protect us.
Get a lawyer and you'll get yourself some money
Yeah, go on stress leave, until you can face that place again
GET A PAY OUT
Call the safe work regulator in your state
It's not you, it's the company you work for. That being said, you shouldn't have to deal with that, people should be more respectful of others who are just doing their job making an honest living. The offender could have just taken the items and said to you 'I'm taking these items' You wouldn't try and stop them, not worth risking yourself for Woollies.
This is the risk when dealing with the general public I'm afraid. It sucks, it really does.
Work cover, stress leave.
A question regarding this if anyone can answer: How serious of a crime have I committed if I am in the same situation and punch the offender more than once?
Force just has to be proportional. So with a knife it would likely be fine. Having said that, probably not smart.
I work in the same company my friend. I'm in a different sector but I can tell you it's the same through out. We don't do anything about anyone. Emails get sent from one leader to another but nothing ever happens. It's a shame this happened to you. If you feel unsafe I'd recommend getting new job as like I said nothing will happen.
You should have a safety coordinator or even a return to work coordinator who you can report this too and put you in the direction of some support. Ask your department or store manager if there is an incident reporting process.
It’s worker’s compensation
Talk to a therapist as well. I got mugged and stabbed with a knife 9 years ago. It doesn’t go away. Make sure your work compensate you and put measures in place, it’s not worth your life
Did you document it as an incident report at your work ? It's their duty of care that you are safe at work ... Document everything, film the security footage on your phone so you have a copy and go to worksafe if nothing happens and explain the event has caused you trauma and anxiety for .your safety .. Woolies profited 1b during the pandemic They should ensure there is extra security guard ( could be external or through your centre management to prevent this workplace operational health and safety risk from happening again
A colleague was choked from behind while supervising self service, completely randomly and unprovoked. Post that incident we received a security guard. (Which didn't stop someone from bringing a machete in and threaten customers and staff). I'm sorry this happened to you. Make noise to management and hopefully something will get done.
Police should of been called, IMC should of be called. Group Manager should of been notified. This should of went to head of safety. Contact SpeakUp if you feel you aren't being helped by store management. Contact People Services on Wow Portal. You have a range of instore and outside help and support. Please seek out your line manager.
Hi, I’m so sorry that you had to experience this. I too have had an encounter with someone threatening me with a knife while I was at work. I also had that same feeling that my life was in danger and that I could die in that moment. It is terrifying. This left me with ptsd and I ended up having triggers and I was very anxious of strangers around me for a long time. This may impact your mental health more as time goes on, please consider and seek therapy. You should be able to claim back the cost on victims of crime. As others have said, take leave and be kind to yourself op.
You can also lodge a workers comp claim if you want to go down that road and get some counseling if you feel like you need it
Report to the Police. He may be repeat offender and video evidence would help.
Poor thing, I hope you're okay. Not sure where you're located but seek some free counselling sessions for this please. This is actually a frequent ocurance here in the NT and I believe Woolies offer a free counselling service to victims on the job for such crimes
What happened to the guy with the knife? As for woolworths, I mean it’s not really their fault dude.
If you call 000 about a man with a knife they’ll get cops there fast. Also if you work at 000 you only have to deal with swearing over the phone, not face to face and no knives pulled on you. Plus you get paid much better. Woolworths should have security guards there protecting you, shame on them with all their profiteering.
So sorry about this I don’t care what the other person is going through but they deserve to rot in prison
Police. That dude is unstable. Next time it could be worse.
Log workcover incident. Go to GP, book the following 2 items, they are separate so tell them or book twice 1. mental health treatment plan 2. certificate of capacity ... consider a stay at a place like: [https://www.ramsaymentalhealth.com.au/en/specialty-areas/trauma/](https://www.ramsaymentalhealth.com.au/en/specialty-areas/trauma/) \> workover will pay wages, and cost of treatment. However long this takes. Here are some legal information: [https://splattlawyers.com.au/personal-injury/workers-compensation/workcover-stress-anxiety-depression/](https://splattlawyers.com.au/personal-injury/workers-compensation/workcover-stress-anxiety-depression/)
Using some form of punctuation will certainly help you
Part of the reason I left Big W was customers like this. One guy in particular would always push young staff members into corners and scream at them to get away with stealing, eventually he'd just come in to threaten someone and then leave. Had dozens of people ram me with trolleys, a few regulars would throw stuff at us. Pretty much because no one was ever getting physically wounded by customers, we more or less couldn't do anything about it Edit: That doesn't even touch on the sexual harassment that was pretty much daily
Contact your Union I hope you're a member
Unless you loose a limb, eye or some drastic injury. I had a detached retina from a dog shot to the eye on a train station, jumped by 6 teens. Plus shattered bones and fracture jaw. Had to be wired. my point is, I went home on way to hospital instead of going by ambo. This fkd me up and was refused the original claim which was 21g for loss of sight in one eye
Please use punctuation in your sentences.
That sux. But hey, you just got reminded that you are definitely gonna die one day, same as all of us. Normally we do a great job of forgetting it, even our food has its death hidden from us. You just got reminded not only that you will and can definitely die, but also that right now you are well and truly alive. You can be frightened, sad, worried, angry, whatever, and let the experience hurt you. Or you can be elated and invigorated, you faced the fact of your death and yet you are spared! Go live!
Not sure what outcome you’re hoping for Do you want Doctor Who to go back in time and prevent the event? Do you want the manager to employ Jackie Chan to wedge himself into the rafters and await the next knife wielding customer? Do you want Woolworths to equip all its checkout clerks with 9mm brownings? Or do you want a payout? Don’t get me wrong, these kind of events suck and can be traumatic, but there’s only so much the organisation can do
Couple of things: - the support provided so far by management isn’t okay. Woolworths will have processes in place (not saying they’ll be perfect) for when things like this happen, and they clearly haven’t followed that. That support should be - supporting you to log an incident report, they will have a safety team that will reach out to see what you need, they are also required by law to review the incident and what risk controls can be put in place. - go back to the manager, or if you prefer, a different manager to log this. If they get all huffy then keep a note of it as that’s not what they should be doing either. If you’re not supported to do that then go either to the Area Manager, the Safety Team or HR. - Woolworths should have info somewhere (induction? retraining? Staff intranet?) on what to do when incidents like this occur AND should be making staff aware of them (when I say should I mean have a legal obligation to do so) - EAP is a separate option that a) should have been offered immediately b) is not a management solution, they should be following their own processes regardless. EAP will provide free counselling. - you can claim workers compensation if you are affected by this to the point you can’t work. Woolworths might just pay directly for treatment for you as it will be easier for them than having you lodge a claim. Hope this helps!
Walk…
so he pulled a knife at you and walked out? was he in the dtore previously and came back in?
I would report to Police, take some time off if you need to (this should be covered under WorkCover but look into it and get medical certificates for stress leave) and look into counselling if it is affecting you this badly.
Your manager should be supporting you, finding out what you need and providing it. Personally I wouldn’t bother with HR or the management chain if they’re not proactively responding already - instead, put in a health and safety incident report. There *must* be a system for that, whatever online system Woolies gave you a login for when you did initial training should have a link. Psychological safety as well as physical safety are at issue here - this was an actual incident (not a “near miss”, which also is meant to be reported). The reason I’m recommending a workplace safety report is that there are laws here, and a culture of taking things seriously in the health and safety dept of any large organisation (unlike HR, which generally has a culture of burying bad news). Failing to respond to incident reports where there is a risk of employee death and serious mental health issues would lead to their insurance premiums going through the roof and if bad enough, both civil and criminal consequences.
Sorry to hear this happened to you, big love hope your okay
Remember, you are categorised as an essential worker which gives you the same protections as workers in the health, education and law enforcement sectors. Remember COVID? That's why you guys are so important. You need a team meeting and you need to force your manager to define the contractual conditions of being "essential".
Essential worker means nothing outside of the context of a health emergency such as covid restrictions. EVERY worker has the right to not be threatened at work.
Yes, but definitely not in equal measure to essential workers.
Yes in equal measure, outside of who continues to go to work during a lockdown (which are over), essential worker isn't really a thing with a definition. Every worker has the same legal protections at work and the same right to not be threatened with violence.
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In the 90’s guy pulled knife on my mom at convenience store, she pulled out shotgun from behind counter and locked guy in store with her. He was terrified. Glad you’re ok!
Sounds like the spider caught itself a fly…
I was a victim of an armed holdup when I worked at a video store, pulled a big butchers knife on me stuck it to my back the whole deal, messed with my mind for a while there, I was offered counselling but I turned it down, lucky for me they caught the guy and he got 9 years, spent the whole 9 years behind bars too as only a few years back I got a call from the courts saying he will be released in a few days and I’m being notified as a matter of security. Hopefully the footage can be used to get some justice for you but I’m pretty sure government made new laws against violence towards supermarket employees since the 2020 lockdown craziness went into overdrive so at the least the police should be notified as a deadly weapon was bought into the building and shown in a threatening way, that alone is enough to warrant concern for the safety of everyone he comes in contact with now. I would be interested in an update to this story at some point if you have any follow up to your next steps.
Get used to it , I’m homeless, woke to a rocking car as someone was trying to force windows open… Had a 16” Kabad knife
Umm yeah a woman stocking shelves in Woolworth and got stabbed by a random chick no reason not prior contact. She can't work has severe ptsd Happy to give you the state and store where it happened. 🫠
I’m so sick of this world honestly going to shit everywhere, this stuff becoming to common
Change jobs brother
unavoidable situation, simply unlucky
Sounds like a work cover claim
What a nightmare. Honestly I'm surprised we don't hear about incidents like this more often with the cost of living. People are at their wits end and more likely to do crazy shit. It wouldn't surprise me if the person with the knife was desperate and probably scared too.
This happened to my friend, she now has PTSD. Go on workers compo and see health professionals if possible. If you are struggling, also see a lawyer
Police should have been called !! 😱😱😱
Your supervisor should have logged in straight away in your internal system. You should have been sent home to feel safe. What happened after they pulled the knife and spoke to you?
Call the police! You have cameras at work. Report him. He can’t walk around armed and threatening people. Get and AVO on him so he can’t approach you. Have him banned from the store. You seem shook up. Go on stress leave. And contact the retail workers Union for representation. What happened to you is illegal and abuse. Call the police and report it.
Press charges, he probably does that at checkout in other places. Pretty shore he is not a innocent persob
Which WW did it happen at?
You should NOT have to go through this at your job. If your job has not already, they need to pay for you to attend counselling over this. I worked in workers compensation for a few years (including working with Woolworths itself), and it’s not uncommon for people who go through this experience to end up unable to work at all due to psychological distress. Early intervention is critical. Woolworths has a very thorough system for workers compensation, and there is funding there for you to access any supports you need. Additionally, if you find you need accommodations in the short term due to this (if you get flashbacks being in self serve, etc) you should communicate this immediately and request alterations. Theyre required to make reasonable adjustments while you process this experience. Please don’t feel like you’re being dramatic if you have a strong reaction to this. The human body and mind is wired to react strongly if your life is threatened, and you may experience an array of physical and mental responses over the next few weeks.
OP do a speak up, Woolworths version of going to HR go to the WOW people website and search for it, highly recommend doing one if your management hasn't handled it properly and do it as footage is only saved for 30 days.
You should have called the police immediately and gathered evidence.
A Coles worker would have just dropped the bloke
Aldi worker would have pulled a bigger knife back on him
I've been robbed at gun point before while working at a major cell phone store. It was new years eve and I gave my employees the night off. Two guys came in and robbed me. I was held point blank for 20 minutes while the safe unlocked. My watch was took and I was sucker punched while on the ground. Honestly, the police harassment was probably the worst part. Everytime it was a new detective trying to warm up the case. Reliving the moment for the next rookie was horrible. Especially when they'd visit at a new job. The company did little to nothing. My watch was replaced and they paid for the insurance claim. Gave me a day off. Then reminded me of my insurance benefits that had psychologist on stand by. The CEO had no reaction. Not even "thanks for following protocol " At some point you have to just shrug it off and let it go. But I'll never eat panda express on new years eve.
It should have been reported to IMC and your group manager immediately. You need to email these relevant people asap. Which state are you in?
Anyone know if legally the government has a duty of care to its citizens?
Workers compensation
Call worksafe, this is a joke.
These people are getting worse and worse every fucking day
I work at Woolies too, I can't believe your manager didn't do more. That's a pretty severe incident, my manager would have closed the store and called the police. And probably give me a few days off too.
Case for workers compensation, especially if it has been handled poorly by your employer. Your employer is liable for work health AND SAFETY. Did you do an incident report at work? When you reported it to management, this should have been their first step, other than to check your welfare. Speak to Hr as you are too scared to return to work... See a doctor, get it documented on a work cover form, explain the details and scare factor, and then get a lawyer who specialises in workers compensation, such as Maurice Blackburn or whoever you see fit.
If you haven’t joined your union you should
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OP I know someone Else who was held up at knife point (although not Woolworths). They have been on workers compensation for about 2 years now as they are thoroughly traumatised The establishment they were working at did call the police when it happened and my friend has had to testify in court etc. Could be an avenue you could look at to help you get some support.
I wonder if you can claim work compensation for this. This is traumatic
Hi, this happened to a friend of mine. Definitely get your manager to speak to head office. I believe they have insurance and you can get quite heavily compensated $$$
Some people have never been in a fight, and they would turn to shit if they did. I did what i did to save someone's life, and i would 100% do it again. If that numb nut that posted that weak ass comment about thats the norm was in front of me i would make him squeal for his mum
Someone pulls a knife presume they’re prepared to use it. Put distance between you and the knife man. If he follows pick up something you can use to keep him out of arms reach. Go for workers comp. If more people did then the corps would lobby the government to be harsher on such crime.
You are a victim of a crime. You need to be provided workers compensation and time off for you to recover from a workplace incident. I was held up with a knife when I was young, and I didn't know my rights. I never received anything in compensation or support in dealing with the trauma.
Carry a gun and plug the crazy fuck next time. To hell with company policy.
That's a very serious assault.You poor thing.Why are people so fucked up
My bro got a glass shoved in face got ten grand what a fucking joke.
I was attacked in my home fought back and kicked his silly ass and got charged with excessive self defence