Lidl GB has signed a legally binding agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to step up action against sexual harassment in the workplace.

The move follows an employment tribunal, which found the discounter had failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment of a young female employee by a colleague between 2019 and 2021.

At the time, the tribunal ruled that the supermarket’s managers at the store in question were not aware of the company’s anti-harassment policy, had not carried out risk assessments, and relied on staff complaints before acting.

Under the Equality Act 2010, employers are legally responsible if harassment occurs and they have not taken adequate preventative measures.

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning

However, since the ruling, it is understood by the EHRC that Lidl has introduced additional training for managers, expanded bullying and harassment training across the business, and worked with the EHRC on risk assessments.

The new agreement, signed under the Worker Protection Act’s preventative duty, commits Lidl to further steps, including running a staff survey on harassment and reviewing preventative measures, monitoring informal complaints to spot risks and trends, reviewing formal complaint handling and past cases from 2023–24, consulting its DE&I groups on additional protections, and continuing to update internal policies, training and risk assessments.

A spokesperson from Lidl said: “No person should be subject to harassment in the workplace, so providing our colleagues with a safe and respectful environment is an absolute priority for us.

“That’s why we have robust policies and procedures in place which we’ve taken steps to further strengthen over the past few years. We continually look for opportunities to drive improvements to our processes and ways of working and, therefore, value the opportunity to work voluntarily with the EHRC, to see where we could define actions that will further support our values and colleague experience.

EHRC chairwoman Baroness Kishwer Falkner added: “Sexual harassment is never acceptable in the workplace. We welcome the improvements Lidl has already made since the tribunal ruling and their willingness to take the further steps we have recommended.”

The EHRC said it will continue to monitor Lidl’s progress against the commitments.