Unlike human resources professionals who are trained to handle a range of workplace conflicts, all retail employees don’t instinctively know how to deal with irate customers who refuse to comply with requirements to wear face masks in stores.

Working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, “employees are being left to ensure [mask-wearing] compliance. It’s a new thing for them. Oftentimes that does not work very well,” said Oscar Villanueva, managing director of security services for Minneapolis-based R3 Continuum.

As an example, Villanueva cites a recent video of an unidentified man without a face covering meeting resistance from employees. The Orlando Sentinel reported that the video shows the man trying to enter a Florida Walmart, “but a mask-wearing employee of the store spreads his arms to attempt to block his entrance. The man then attempts to push the employee out of the way, falling to the floor, but persisting and then making his way into the store with the employee continuing his efforts to ask him to leave or put on a face mask, while the video taker comments, ‘Everybody got on masks, man.’”

As Villanueva points out, “Employees are not prepared to do this. There can be arguments, violence. It’s not a good position to put employees in,” he said, calling for conflict-resolution training. “There are ambiguities. It’s also become a politicalized problem. It makes enforcement difficult—it’s a formula for additional problems,” Villanueva said. “I don’t think this is going to get any better. There’s rising infection. Mask wearing is going to continue for a long time.”

At the federal level, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends wearing a face covering in public settings to prevent infection from the coronavirus, but there is no nationwide mandate. States and municipalities are increasingly requiring masks, and the list changes as new hot spots develop around the country. Walmart, Target and Starbucks are among a growing number of national retailers with mandatory mask policies for customers, in addition to employees. Many convenience stores also ask customers to wear face masks inside their stores and post signs at store entrances as reminders.

Enforcing Ambiguous Policies

Travis R. Blankenship, president and senior consultant for Threat Assessment Consultants LLC, based in St. Louis, said companies first need to understand who is responsible for issuing any relevant face-covering order and who is responsible for enforcing it. “If someone violates that mandate, what do you want me to do about it as a business in the community? If they are not going to issue a summons, it ties the hands of management,” he said. “Have that conversation in advance, so you have a good understanding of what’s expected.”

A potential violation of a mask-related ordinance is not a felony, and many law enforcement offices have not been actively enforcing violations, Blankenship said. “Keep that in perspective when you are trying to enforce it.” But knowing when to enforce the rules is especially difficult since most of the policies exempt children and people with underlying health conditions.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in mid-July reminded businesses that they can refuse to serve customers who aren’t wearing a face mask—or call police for help. After lawmakers and business groups expressed concerns about putting businesses in the difficult position of enforcing a government mandate and opening the door to lawsuits, Gov. Northam clarified that businesses need only enforce mask requirements for their employees.

Businesses have a right to refuse service to a customer who will not wear a mask, but Blankenship warned against it. “Don’t refuse to serve the customer—that’s where it puts the employee and business at risk. It’s better to rely on law enforcement, and if they are not going to enforce it, the business does not have a leg to stand on. Do your best to enforce it, but it’s not something I would suggest engaging in a controversial manner.”

If employees feel they are forced into dealing with angry customers, they could file a stress claim against the company, he added. “In the current world, it’s so litigious. You need to de-escalate any situation. You need to protect your employees. You need to keep a balance. This affects your relationship with the community.”

Employers can require their own employees to wear masks, Blankenship said. “PPE (personal protective equipment) is something that is the right of the employer to require as part of the job description. If someone is claiming immunity, contact a lawyer.”

Michael Raisbeck, chief people officer of CEFCO Convenience Stores, said the company has taken the stance “that if someone is without a mask, we don’t confront them. We serve them.”

“Confronting people can be dangerous. You want to get them in the store, take care of them, and get them out,” he said.

The company is based in Temple, Texas, and also has stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi—many in areas hard hit by the coronavirus. CEFCO stores have signs posted about mask-wearing where required, and employees must wear masks, Raisbeck said. “It’s company policy, no matter the jurisdiction. If we hear ‘I just don’t want to wear it,’ we say it is part of the company uniform now.”

Communicate and Train

CAL’s Convenience Inc., based in Frisco, Texas, has about 3,000 employees working at more than 200 Stripes locations in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had resisted calls for Texans to wear masks in public and at one point banned local governments from requiring masks. On July 2, he issued orders for people in most counties in the state to wear masks. More than half of U.S. states now require face masks in public when social distancing isn’t possible.

Dealing with the different rules in different municipalities—and with frequently changing rules—requires constant communication, said Jill Spencer, vice president of human resources for CAL’s Convenience. Special communications come twice a week from the corporate office, she said, and “when it’s urgent I will get on the phone to area managers and regional directors and give them specific information and send it directly to the stores.”

In return, “they don’t hesitate to call. They call me 24/7. The bottom line is that managers are swamped” by the COVID crisis, she said.

Don’t refuse to serve the customer—that’s where it puts the employee and business at risk.

Listening is an important part of the communication process, she added. “We should always listen to our customers if there is a problem. In my profession, I’ve learned that when you try to defend yourself, a lot of times things escalate. Listen. Follow up. We follow up with every customer complaint.”

CAL’s Convenience uses Ready Training Online to teach how to deal with potentially aggressive situations such as robbery, she said, but “this has been a little bit different. We try to talk to individuals about what we need to do and why we do it. We have weekly training for area and regional managers.”

The message everyone should take from their training is this: “Always stay calm, and don’t take it personally. If you feel your life is in danger call the police—period.”

Villanueva recommends that all employees receive basic training on how to respond to customer hostility and other threats in the workplace. Managers and supervisors should receive more comprehensive training to better understand why conflicts occur and to teach employees how to defuse them. “An essential component of training is that humans are human. When people interact you are going to have conflict,” he said. “It’s masks now, but it could be any situation. It could be about terminating an employee [so, it’s important] that they walk away at least feeling like they were treated fairly.”