IKEA Ordered to Pay $1.2 Million Fine for Spying on French Workers

IKEA Ordered to Pay $1.2 Million Fine for Spying on French Workers.

On June 15, the French branch of Ingka Group, which owns most of the world’s IKEA stores, was fined $1.2 million.

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A French court ruled that the retailer was guilty of spying on its staff through the improper gathering and storage of employee data.

This includes breaching their employees’ privacy by reviewing bank account records and sometimes writing up reports on staff via fake employee profiles.

According to worker representatives, this snooping often targeted union leaders.

It was also used to give IKEA an inappropriate advantage in customer disputes by sifting through people’s financial records.

Ingka Group has since released a statement saying they “strongly” condemn and apologize for their actions.

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IKEA Retail France has strongly condemned the practices, apologized and implemented a major action plan to prevent this from happening again, Ingka Group, via Reuters.

France is IKEA’s third-biggest market after Germany and the United States.

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The furniture retailer has about 10,000 employees in France.