A Spanish court has ordered fashion retailer H&M to immediately stop carrying out routine bag inspections and random locker searches of employees, ruling that the measures unlawfully
infringed workers' privacy.
Spain's High Court sided with trade unions UGT and CCOO in a case challenging the retailer's security procedures. Judges said H&M had failed to demonstrate that the searches were necessary to prevent employee theft.
The company had required staff finishing the final shift of the day to undergo bag checks, while lockers were searched at random once a month.
H&M declined to comment on the ruling.
The court found the retailer could not provide evidence showing what proportion of its losses was caused by employee theft, rather than external shoplifting, supplier fraud or administrative mistakes.
Judges also noted that only six employees had been dismissed for theft-related offences over the past three years, despite H&M employing about 4,600 staff in Spain.
The ruling said less intrusive security measures, such as electronic security gates at staff exits, could achieve the same objective without interfering with workers' privacy.
It also described the monthly locker inspections as "preventive and intimidatory", concluding that they were not justified by any proven need to protect the company's assets. Photo by MediaPhoto.Org, Wikimedia commons.
