Ikea signs legal agreement with EHRC after complaint

The agreement comes after the EHRC was made aware of an allegation of sexual assault and harassment at the Swedish homeware retailer and reports that these allegations were not appropriately handled by management at one of the company’s UK stores.

Ikea UK has committed to reviewing its sexual harassment policies and meeting its responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010.

This includes a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment, working with a specialist external law partner to review its policies and processes relating to sexual harassment, and providing training on the enhanced policies and processes to Human Resources staff and all line managers.

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Ikea’s agreement with the EHRC is likely to last until August 2025. 

Baroness Kishwer Falkner, Chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: “No matter how big or small, every employer is responsible for protecting its workforce and sexual harassment should not be tolerated.

“As Britain’s equality regulator we help employers to understand the law and we take action to prevent it from being breached. In signing this agreement, Ikea UK has taken an important step towards ensuring their staff are better protected from harassment.

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She continued: “Employers should not assume that a low level of reporting means there is no problem with sexual harassment in the workplace, or that policies and procedures alone are enough to stop harassment from happening.

“Sexual harassment needs to be dealt with very seriously. The training and development work already completed at the store where the complaint emerged is a welcome sign of Ikea’s commitment to better practice.”