Stacey is an 18 year old shop assistant with a bakery /
café. She started as a junior three years ago and
has become a trusted member of staff. She has a regular lunch
clientele and genuinely enjoys her job.
Recently, her boss Rod asked her if she could take over the closing duties a couple of days a week. This involved cleaning up, counting the till, organising the banking, locking up, and depositing money in the night safe on her way home.
One Friday afternoon, as she was cleaning up, a man approached the counter. “I'm sorry, we're closed,” she started to say. Suddenly, he reached up over the counter, grabbed her by the hair and put a gun to her face. “Give me all the money”.
Stacey was terrified. She started shaking and crying but tried to do as he said. She opened the cash register and started taking out the money. “Put it in a bag”, he instructed. She reached for a bag and put all the notes in it. “That's all of it”, she said, and put the bag on the counter. The man raised his gun and smashed it across her head. She blacked out.
When she came to, the ambulance and police had arrived, alerted by a neighbouring store owner. She was taken to hospital where the gash to her head was stitched. She was also questioned by police. She tried but could only provide a vague description of her attacker. She was kept in hospital overnight to monitor for possible concussion and released the following morning. Her doctor said she would be fit for work on Monday.
She spent the weekend inside. Whenever she went out she started to feel uneasy and would quickly go back inside. Her head ached and she felt nauseous. By Monday morning, her fears were increasing and she felt even sicker. She rang her boss and went to see her local doctor who diagnosed post-traumatic stress and referred her to a counsellor.
The counsellor encouraged Stacey to return to work. She suggested she could start by avoiding serving over the counter, working less hours and gradually build up to the money handling roles. She recommended she continue counselling once a week for the present, and sent a medical certificate detailing her recommendations to Stacey's boss.
Stacey returned to work the next day. Rod sat with Stacey to discuss how they should proceed. He told her he had notified their insurer and WorkCover and they had advised he should look at ways to improve staff safety. Stacey explained that she still didn't feel safe in the shop. They discussed the incident and came up with lots of ideas to improve safety. Rod would look into purchasing a security camera and monitor as well as an alarm which could be pressed at the counter. Stacey suggested that there should always be at least two people on duty for closing. They also decided to write a safe work procedure for cash handling and robbery guidelines, and made sure staff were trained in these procedures.
After reviewing the job dictionary Rob and Stacey agreed on a plan to return Stacey to work. Initially, Stacey helped with stocking the display cabinets and providing coffee and table service. She finished at 3pm each day to avoid the closing process. Gradually, as her counselling helped her fears, she started serving customers again and using the cash register.
One day, about 3 weeks after the incident, she came to work and found a bright sticker in the window notifying a camera, monitor and alarm had been installed. Rod asked her if she would stay back and help him close today. Stacey smiled, and agreed.
