Spain's High Court issued a decision on Monday requiring H&M to discontinue two specific loss-prevention practices used in its Spanish stores: daily bag inspections of employees leaving the last shift and monthly, randomly conducted locker searches. The ruling concluded that these security procedures invaded employee privacy rights.
The legal action that produced the judgment was initiated by the trade unions UGT and CCOO. In evaluating the case, the court determined that H&M had not substantiated that the measures were proportionate to any losses caused by staff theft.
Specifically, the court noted that the retailer failed to separate and quantify losses attributable to employee theft from other potential causes, including external theft, supplier fraud, or administrative mistakes. Because H&M did not provide a clear accounting isolating theft by employees as the source of quantified losses, the court judged the invasive controls to be unjustified.
The judgment also captured management data presented during proceedings: over the preceding three-year period, six workers out of an approximate workforce of 4,600 were dismissed for theft-related offenses. The court used that figure when assessing whether the scale of the security measures was appropriate relative to the incidence of employee theft.
As part of its ruling, the court indicated that installing security arches at staff exits would represent a less intrusive means to address loss-prevention objectives while achieving the same anti-theft purpose. The court characterized such arches as an alternative that would limit intrusion into personal privacy compared with the contested daily checks and monthly locker inspections.
The decision requires H&M to halt the named practices in its Spanish operations. The ruling centers on the balance between employers' efforts to prevent theft and the privacy rights afforded to employees, with the court finding that, on the facts presented, the measures in question crossed the boundary into unlawful intrusion.