The legal requirement to wear face masks in Scotland has now been lifted, but is there a chance you may still be told to put one on in a shop?
The Scottish Government relaxed the rules on wearing a mandatory face covering in public on Monday.
While there is no legal requirement to wear a face mask, the Scottish Government is still advising the public to cover up.
Can a shop tell you to wear a face mask?
Some business owners may still choose to ask that customers continue to wear face coverings while in their establishments.
Shop owners, much like other businesses, have the right to put a policy in place asking customers to wear a mask for their own premises.
It may be that a member of the workforce is vulnerable and the owner or manager wants to be on the safe side.
But what if the customer says they do not want to put on a mask?
David Scott, partner for the commercial property team at Ledingham Chalmers in Aberdeen, explained a shop has the “right to refuse service to anyone” and business owners have a responsibility to look after the health and safety of their staff.
He said: “There might be some circumstances where a shop wants to impose their own policy on the wearing of facemasks, and shop owners can do that.
“A shop is able to refuse service from anyone, it’s not a public duty to keep a shop open, a shop can close and a shop can refuse service to people.”
This means that if a shop owner imposed a policy that customers are required to wear a face mask on the premises they have the right to refuse service to anyone who refuses to wear a mask and can ask them to leave.
Similarly, hospitality venues have the right to ask guests to wear a face covering when visiting the premises.
‘Grey area’ on fask mask policies
However, he explained that shop owners must be careful not to discriminate against anyone who may not wear a face covering for medical reasons.
He explained: “So that’s where you get a little bit of a grey area as to whether you can or can’t enforce these policies.
“If a person states they have a disability that prevents them from wearing a mask, then they are entitled to not wear a mask but are entitled to the same service that you would otherwise get.”
He suggested enhanced PPE could be used by staff to attend to someone who cannot wear a mask for medical reasons, or other adjustments could be made such as social distancing.
However, Mr Scott does not believe there will be many shops insisting on customers wearing a face mask as this might limit the footfall.
He added: “Of course, there might be circumstances where that is not the case either if you have a particularly vulnerable workforce or a vulnerable shop owner who might want to be on the safe side.”
Explainer: What happens if you don’t want to wear a mask but a venue asks you to?
