IKEA UK has entered into a legal agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), to improve its policies and practices in relation to sexual harassment.

The intervention by Britain’s equality regulator follows a complaint about sexual harassment and assault from a former IKEA employee and relates to how the allegations were handled by IKEA UK.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission helps employers to prevent discrimination and harassment and can use its enforcement powers when alleged incidents are reported.

Under the terms of the legally binding agreement, IKEA UK has committed to reviewing the way it deals with sexual harassment and meeting its responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. IKEA UK will:

• Communicate a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment to all staff;
• Work with a specialist external law partner to support the organisation in reviewing its policies and processes relating to sexual harassment, and to improve its responses to complaints; and
• Provide training on the enhanced policies and processes, harassment and sexual harassment to Human Resources staff and all line managers.

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.”

The EHRC first engaged IKEA UK in February 2022, after being made aware of an allegation of sexual assault and harassment in the workplace and reports that these allegations were not appropriately handled by management at one of their UK stores.

IKEA UK’s agreement with the EHRC is likely to last until August 2025. The EHRC will monitor IKEA’s compliance with the agreement, to ensure all actions are completed within the agreed timescales, and can use its legal powers as a regulator to enforce the action plan.

Kishwer Falkner 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.”

The EHRC encourages every employer to act to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Harassment is unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct that violates the dignity of a person or creates a hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. EHRC guidance includes a legal explanation and practical examples of how to prevent and respond effectively to harassment.