Lidl GB has entered into an agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) after an Employment Tribunal found that it was liable for the sexual harassment suffered by an employee.

Lidl was found not to have taken all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work and so could not establish the statutory defence to the claim. Although it had taken some steps following the judgment, the agreement requires Lidl to take significant further action to prevent future harassment.

Assuming the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill proceeds as planned, from October 2026 employers will have a positive duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in their workplaces. This echoes the existing defence mentioned above and strengthens the current obligation to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment at work. The details of this agreement provide helpful insight into what taking “all reasonable steps” might involve. 

Legal background

The EHRC is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act 2010 (the 2010 Act). Under section 23 of the Equality Act 2006, it can enter into binding agreements with organisations to not commit unlawful acts and to take positive steps to prevent unlawful acts occurring where it has evidence that the 2010 Act has been breached (a section 23 agreement). Although the agreement with Lidl came about following an employment tribunal claim, the EHRC can enter into section 23 agreements in other circumstances, for example where an employee has “blown the whistle”.

In exchange for entering into a section 23 agreement, the EHRC agrees to help the organisation meet its commitments and to not take enforcement action against it unless it fails to comply.

The agreement with Lidl GB

In addition to the steps it has already taken to prevent sexual harassment, Lidl has committed to:

• Run a staff survey relating to sexual harassment within the workplace and assess if additional preventative steps are necessary.
• Develop a system to monitor and analyse informal complaints of sexual harassment to identify ongoing risks and whether additional preventative steps are required.
• Monitor the effectiveness of complaint handling for new formal complaints of sexual harassment.
• Review a sample of sexual harassment complaints from 2023 and 2024 to assess any trends and risks.
• Arrange meetings with its existing DE&I groups to discuss risks of sexual harassment, and any additional preventative steps which could be taken.
• Continue to monitor and review its sexual harassment risk assessment.
• Further review internal harassment policies and training content, including its relationships at work guidance.

(Source: the EHRC)

These steps reflect some of the key aspects of the EHRC’s technical guidance on sexual harassment and harassment at work. These include:

• the importance of carrying out (and regularly reviewing) risk assessments to inform actions to prevent harassment;
• the need to engage with and educate staff on this issue; and
• the wisdom of having effective formal and informal complaints procedures.

Also of note is the fact that Lidl has committed to engage its DE&I (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) groups in conducting its risk assessment and determining the steps that should be taken to prevent sexual harassment. The technical guidance states that workers who are (for example) disabled, from an ethnic minority and/ or members of the LGBT+ community are more likely to experience sexual harassment as a result. This point is often missed, however, and organisations should bear it in mind when formulating their own strategies on sexual harassment and thinking about what “all reasonable steps” may mean for them.

Employers should not wait until the expanded duty to prevent sexual harassment comes into force before thinking about this issue and taking action as (as Lidl has found out to its cost) failure to do so could lead to legal and reputational damage now.