Ikea signs legal agreement with EHRC to tackle sexual harassment

Ikea UK has signed a legal agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), to improve its policies and practices in relation to sexual harassment after a complaint by a former employee.

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

EHRC stated that as part of the 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.
• Provide training on the enhanced policies and processes, harassment and sexual harassment to Human Resources staff and all line managers.

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

Darren Taylor, Country People and Culture manager at Ikea UK and Ireland said: “At Ikea, we do not tolerate harassment of any kind.

“We have robust policies and procedures in place to protect our co-workers and we take our responsibility to do so incredibly seriously, however, we also recognise and welcome opportunities to review and strengthen our approaches even further. Over the coming two and a half years we will continue to work collaboratively with the EHRC to ensure the best possible working environment for our people.”

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.”

Falkner added: “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.”