Lidl says sorry over spying claims

Supermarket chain Lidl today apologised to staff after being accused of systematically spying on them.

It took out of series of newspaper adverts in Germany saying: “We regret it profoundly and apologise explicitly if co-workers feel discredited and personally hurt by the described procedures.”

Last week German magazine Stern reported that Lidl had hired detectives who installed surveillance cameras to monitor the staff’s work performance, and even to find out how often they used the toilets and whether they had affairs with co-workers.

The report prompted some politicians and data protection agencies to demand stricter protection laws for supermarket staff.

Despite the apology, the chain rejected Stern’s accusations and said “the impression that Lidl had systematically ’spied’ on its workers, in no way conforms with the company’s fair dealings” with them.

Lidl also justified the use of detectives, saying they were hired to obtain information that would allow the company to cut down on shoplifting.

Lidl conceded that “in individual cases, extra and in some cases personal information on employees was recorded by the detective agencies.” But, it added: “we did not want that.”

Lidl said that “it has learned from the incidents” and would in the future concentrate on working with its employees to combat theft.

Senior Lidl manager Juergen Kisseberth said later Monday that detectives were deployed in 219 of Lidl’s 2,900 branches across Germany.

Lidl is one of the biggest discount grocery chains in Germany with 48,000 employees.