This is terrible. The strain on staff not knowing who to trust with perfectly normal concerns must be unbearable. The company should be investigated and compelled to conform with normal, acceptable levels of security surveillance.

Gordon Smith, Dudley, England

This is a disgrace and I am very tempted to never go into a Lidl store again...I am German and this is causing me to be sick...what kind of employer records personal conversations of their employees and checks bathroom brakes..what are their managers for in this scenario, who are employed to MANAGE?

Angelika West, Basingstoke, Hampshire

Ms. Ellis - to me atrocity reminds me of ethnic cleansing or haulocaust - not the conversation of an employee working at a cash register being recorded without their knowledge???

I expect that there is not even a breach of contract in this situation.

G.S., Aberdeen, UK

This is a disgrace. Company's should work on trust, not mis-trust. Its an invasion of peoples human rights and privacy. So what if someone goes to the loo every 15mins, they may have a embarrassing bladder problem, I certainly wouldnt want everyone to know. And if people are getting romantic, well good, companies should be happy for them.all the employees affected by this outrage should receive a formal apology and maybe a bonus payment in their wage to make up for this atrocity.

Fiona Ellis, Leeds, West Yorkshire

Sounds like Aldi here in the USA (Also a German based chain). Short staffed and huge lines at the single register open.

Thomas, Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Given that there are two parties, clients and staff, 50% is an equal distribution over the two groups. Nothing special therefore? And would it lead LIDL to record conversations of clients?

peter, Birmingham,

Sources: Just some information collected from time working with the likes of Sabrewatch, TK Maxx and Option 1 Security. In double checking the 50% figure that covers both dishonesty and human error.

G.S., Aberdeen, UK

"It is estimated that about 50% of all losses form the bottom line in stores such as Lidl are accounted for by staff dishonesty."

Sources please?

peter, Birmingham,

there is no excuse whatsoever for audio to be recorded. audio recording is of no assistance in discovering theft and even if it was, it should not be used as it is an unacceptable invasion of privacy.

Marco, Kraków, Poland

It is estimated that about 50% of all losses form the bottom line in stores such as Lidl are accounted for by staff dishonesty. As this is difficult to identify any little indication of an unusual pattern of behavior is routeenly investigated by UK high street shops. These can include patterns of sickness, relationships between staff, toilet breaks, familiarity with customers, till shortages or overages for as little as 1p.

Methods include tracking these details, covert survallence (often for many hours) and computerised reports. This is very common in the UK.

Of course consumers demand low prices and any way that a company can reduce bottom line losses and pass the savings on to them should be welcomed.

Ex-Store Loss Investigator

G.S., Aberdeen, UK

can we have a Lidl security report on our MPs please ?

Gareth, Hull, yorkshire

This is appalling. Anyone who thinks this is harmless is a simpleton.

Chris, Wiltshire,

The actions of Lidl employers in Germany is an absolute disgrace. Monitoring toilet breaks? Hidden Stasi cameras?

It's a human rights abuse and Lidl senior management should be made to account for themselves immediately.

Sarah, Leicester,, UK

Tony
They were all doing their jobs. Whether they go to the toilet, pay their TV licences or fall in love is irrelevant.

Damian, London, UK

Tony Carty, the naivety of your comment leaves me utterly gobsmacked.

Do you really think that it is ok to SECRETLY film people and record their every word and movement without their consent? Some surveillance may be justified in the interests of staff safety and stock security, I grant you that. But I don't see how covert surveillance can ever be justified.

Rob Cheeseman, Derby, UK

When they first opened i remember going in they had the manager and one assistant on the till,somebody at the till said they were overcharged a £1.00 that brought the manager out then as the queue grew longer a little child broke a bottle of vodka this brought the store to a holt and the queue wraped around the store i didn't believe it at the time that a supermarket could run with two staff.

TOM, Dundee, Scotland

I think it is a good idea.
If you are doing your job then you have nothing to worry about.
This will only have a impact on those staff who are lazy and abusing the company.

tony carty, warrington, cheshire

And don't think that the same sort of thing isn't happening over here in stores and offices, because no doubt it is, and it's only a matter of time before we find out about it.

Paul Downes, Milton Keynes, Bucks