Working Conditions in Lidl
She knew she should have finished an hour ago.
She knew she wouldn't get paid for this hour.
And yet, the feeling of inadequacy combined with the fear of losing her job caused her to stay.
This was (and is) common practice in the sector - but Dieter Schwarz was about to perfect it. If the sheer terror at the thought of losing one's income was causing workers to do one hour of unpaid overtime every day, why not three or four? If he increased their workload without increasing their hours and forced them to stay as long as they were needed, he could considerably cut down on personnel expenses, and this would enable him to sell at prices no one else could compare with and still make an enormous profit; he basically sells the product to the consumer at half the normal retail price, and his employees pay the other half.
Employers break the law all over the world to squeeze the most out of their workers. But the Lidl concept is entirely based on breaking the law: Lidl could not exist in a country that applies their labour laws!
Lidl is considered the nastiest multinational employer (besides maybe Walmart) in the civilised world, and rightly so.
Unfortunately I wasn't aware of that until it was too late.
I had a well-paid job in a decent factory, but the night shift completely destroyed my health. So I signed a contract with Lidl after I was guaranteed that I wouldn't have to work nights.
As you can guess, that guarantee wasn't honoured, and I had to get up at 4am every night.
I had hoped that I could stick with it until I found decent employment - but in the end I put my health and dignity first and left.
(To be fair, I have to add that when I started we had a store manager who was both decent and competent - but I soon had to realise that neither of these qualities are common in Lidl.)
These are just some of the working conditions:
- Contracts are for 10 or 20 hours/week. However, employees may be able to work full time most weeks, provided
a) they never mention their rights
b) they are on call 24/7
c) it suits the company.
- Whoever shows awareness of their rights has their hours cut down. The same goes for employees who are not 'flexible' (=not available to come in at short notice any time, or not answering their phones at 5am). And of course any career opportunities depend entirely on tractability and 'flexibility'.
- Labour laws are not applicable in Lidl. Especially the legally prescribed minimum daily rest period is regularly denied. This happened to me quite often, and when it became the norm, I quit.
Some of my Polish and Slovac colleagues have to work two shifts a day (5+ hours at night/morning, 2+ hours in the evening), five days a week, each week; which means that every week they are denied their daily minimum rest period for five consecutive days.
There even is an internal terminology for regular breaches of the law: for example, an evening shift followed by a night shift, denying the employee his legal entitlement of an eleven hour rest period, is called a back-to-back shift.
- Employees are constantly harassed. However fast they work, they are expected to increase their speed every day, and not a day goes by without the manager telling them they are too slow, usually with a more or less subtle hint at possible dismissal.
(On one occasion, I was told I had to change a number of bulk pallets in an average of 15 minutes each; I managed to change them in an average of 9 minutes, and on the following day I was given 8 minutes for exactly the same task.)
- Employees only get paid for the hours they're scheduled for but have to stay until everything is finished. Since the amount of work can't possibly be done in the assigned timeframe, the employee has to add a few hours of his own time without payment.
- If an employee gets called in for extra hours at short notice, these hours are conveniently 'forgotten' on the payroll.
- Fear is the main means of staff motivation. I have been told that disciplinary action had been taken against me on two occasions (for ludicrously silly reasons that wouldn't even have been addressed anywhere else); the disciplinary action didn't come after all, but it helps reminding the staff of how easily they can get rid of them. (The same has happened to a number of staff members in our store.)
- Cashiers are required, under pain of disciplinary action, to start work ten minutes before the beginning of their shift. This may not sound like a lot, but depending on the rota of the cashier, it could amount to up to two additional unpaid hours per week.
- Cashiers are supposed to scan an average of 35 items per minute; I never heard of anyone who managed to do this even once, and it is my belief that this is actually impossible. But the magic 35 is used at every given opportunity to remind even the best employee that their work is not satisfactory.
(And while they are busy trying to scan as many products as humanly possible, 'Mystery Shoppers' are being paid to sneak other items past the checkout and get the cashier into trouble.)
- An employee who purchases a drink or a chocolate bar for the break has to get the receipt signed by both the cashier and the manager or will be accused of theft. (Naturally, the time one is looking for the manager is part of the break itself.)
- I haven't experienced or witnessed any locker, pocket or body searches in our store; however, we have been repeatedly informed that these could and would be carried out if the manager felt like it. And I do know these have taken place in other stores!
(Some employees leave their coats at home, even in winter, for fear of having something slipped into them as an excuse for their dismissal.)
- Lidl employees are not supposed to have a private life. They never know what time they will finish; the time given on the rota is simply an estimate (and usually a very bad one) and only indicates until which time they'll get paid. Employees are told not to make any plans or arrangements for the time after work.
The rota is usually out at the weekend for the following week, so employees don't know before Saturday or Sunday whether they'll be working on Monday. And of course the rota can be changed at any time. (I have heard of stores who have, at least theoretically, a monthly rota, but that seems to be the exception.)
Employees are also expected to be available when called in at short notice. They may be called in on their day off, on days on which they have worked already, during their holidays and even when they're on sick leave! And those who don't comply are told that they 'let the team down'.
(Talking about sick leave: sick employees, with or without certificate, can expect a visit from the store or district manager, and they usually don't bring Get Well Soon cards. And those who have been ill for too long can expect their notice in the post.)
- Sick days are not paid; the employee’s rota is simply changed, making his sick days his days off, and he will have to catch up with the lost hours after he returns to work.
- Warehouse, shop floor and checkout area are infested with security cameras. Yet they have nothing to do with security; their only purpose is to control the speed and efficiency of the staff.
- Attendance at staff meetings is compulsory, as anywhere else, but unpaid.
- The Lidl policy of terror, pressure, humiliation and total control applies on every level. Managers receive an annual salary for a 48 hour contract, but they, too, have to finish their work before they go home; thus a working week of over 140 hours (no typo!) is not an exception, though many managers have to blame their own incompetence (overordering, personnel mismanagement etc).
- There is no proper authority in Lidl to deal with disagreements between management and employees (Lidl will probably claim that there is no need since there are no disagreements). Something like a spokesman would be the first step towards workers' representation, and this is something Lidl would not allow under any circumstances!
Theoretically, disagreements and complaints could be brought to the attention of the district manager, but these are guaranteed to backfire! Lidl has a totalitarian structure, and however justified one's complaint is: questioning the store manager means questioning the hierachy, and this doesn't go down well at all!
- Until recently, female eployees in Poland and the Czech Republic were given the privilege of being able to use the toilet during working hours when they had their period. But since they had to wear a headband in order to let the manager know it was that time of the month, there was an understable outcry; and now they have to wait for their break, just like anyone else.
Many Lidl employees, especially job starters and foreign nationals, tend to believe that the way their employer treats them is the norm, or even legal. It is not!
You may ask yourself how Lidl are able to hold on to their staff under these conditions. The answer is simple: they don't! Most employees leave after a few weeks, either because they found decent employment, decided not to give up their dignity for a few extra Euros or are sacked under some pretext because they lack tractability or quickness.
Since the tasks performed by the majority of the staff don't require a lot of training, they are easily replaced - preferably with foreign nationals since they tend to fuss less about rights and minimum requirements.
When you visit your local Lidl, you will see new faces on a regular basis. And if you look into the eyes of those poor souls who have to stay there for more than a few months, you will find them reddened from sleep deprivation, and dead from dehumanisation.
Having been a Lidl employee, it was almost impossible to afford one's shopping anywhere else but in Lidl. But a few weeks before I quit I decided never to spend another penny in there - why sustain the dark power that had turned me into a zombie?
I have gathered experiences with many despicable employers and suffered a lot of humiliation at several workplaces; but the most traumatic of them all will always be my time in Lidl!
I don't blame anyone who shops in Lidl because he has no other choice. But every time you pass the checkout, think of the money you have saved by shopping in Lidl, and remember that all these savings come out of their employees' pockets.
(Of course one may wonder whether a multinational company could get away with these practices without the co-operation of the authorities. In February 2007 I have contacted the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and suggested to send inspectors. In reply I was told that the Department had no authority to send inspectors into Lidl unless I filled out an official Labour Inspectorate Complaint form - however, they are very reluctant to send out this form, and it took several emails and reminders to finally receive the form after more than three months. To view my communication with the Department, click here.
18/06/08: It is now just over a year that the Department have received my complaint form by registered letter, and still no inspection has been carried out in Lidl.)
In 2007, the Guardian published an article about the working conditions in Lidl at http://www.guardian.co.uk/supermarkets/story/0,,2033346,00.html. Due to a misunderstanding, though, I wasn't quoted correctly - my evening shifts didn't last for 12 hours; however, they ended as late as 11pm or midnight (or, in case of an inventory, even a few hours later) and were followed by night shifts that commenced at 5am (not 6am).
Now we get to the stories of my colleagues. If you are working for the Lidl People as well and have something to contribute (anonymously, of course), send an email to 
I found a particularly chilling account of a former employee on an Italian blog (don't worry, it's written in English) which probably will only be believed by Lidl employees. WARNING: This is pure hardcore, and anyone with a weak heart should skip this link; if you think you can take it, click here.
At around 11.00 i get a phone call from one of the duty managers, she aked me if i could do her a favour, now this manager i like and she does her best, especially the crap i know she gets daily.She wanted me to go and work in another store as they were short staffed naturally i said no, whilst pretending to have other arrangments, she was okay about it and told me its my day off and we were cool, then she told me a story about how she had to take rotas home as a manger has made a mistake halfway through the month, now from what she told me she was working on it all evening until 2.00am !! I told her this was ridiculous, and rememeber this is in her own time, covering for somebody elses mistakes which she does on a regular basis !! Then she told me one of the senior managers who hasn't even been with the comapny for a year gave her a roasting for not doing some order for two days and she is one of the more experienced mangagers that was tranfered from another store.I really feel for people like that who are eventually going to be ground down.
After finishing the phone call after moaning to her about not getting off the till until 20.15, way after we are supposed to close, and realising she had just phoned me from HER home not worlk!! i forgot about it and got on with my day, later on the phone went again and it was another manager asking me the SAME question about working in the same store!! Somebody else answered the phone that time as i wasn't in, but their attitude to my relatives on the phone really gets me, they phoned up yesterday to check if i was coming in when i was well on my way to work, i found out when i got home that night.
One time when i was delivering leaflets for this new store, a manager at the store i was training at phone up to check if i was in, they did it twice their trust in me was really a great motivator!
...
This is a continuation of yesterydays delights when i was phoned up for a second time to come in to my store, my mother answered the phone, now as far as i know she was polite, but the manager that phoned has been talking to our security gaurd, who i get on with, in a break the security guard told me that this manager had said that my mother was asking questions and going "what do you want.." and proceeded to say that i was a mummys boy, how many staff he has told this too i don't know as you can imagine this was a bit shocking my life is my own business and the reason i live with my folks is complicated and mostly financial, i also floated to another duty mannager that i was thinking about leaving, and had conversations with him at cashing up about what this other manager had said to me, he said it was bullying ect and was simpathetic.
I think our manager ist just there for the humiliation bit - there's nothing she loves more than giving out to people in front of others, which sometimes can take an almost comical turn.
One day she told me to clean the trolley bay and level the trolleys half an hour before we closed. An hour later she calls me and yells at me (in front of everybody else, of course) that the trolleys weren't level. I managed to keep my calm and even a straight face (which was very difficult) and told her that I had levelled them when she told me to, but that there were still customers afterwards. Without lowering her voice one bit, she told me that that was no excuse...
Lidls r nazi i had 2 work a 15 hour shift & when i wanted 2 go 4 a second ten minute break was told no as had had ten minutes earlier! i quit on the 3rd day (from a blog)
In our shop we order three times as much as we sell. We are on rota 5am until 10am but never finish before evening because we must work backstock. One day I got bad toothache just after 10am and begged store manager to let me go to dentist. She finally agreed to let me go 'early' - early being at 3pm, after 10 hours work (with 15 minute break) and 5 hours of agony.
I am a Store Manager in an English store and have read your web page and of course around 90% of what you have written is accurate.
One thing you failed to mention was the issue of alarm call outs for managers which can occur during any time of the night/early morning.
One such occasion was when I had only had 1 hours sleep and was called and had to attend the store at 2am (where there was some alarm sensor error or something as no break in occurred). I then had to drive home so tired afterwards and then attend work at 6am for my normal 10 hour shift.
The most hours I have done in a week is 69 (which I realise is very good!) considering the other managers I know of.
I know of a manager that has fallen asleep at the wheel and crashed their car, writing off their car and needing treatment for their back etc. They had worked the previous 6 days and had done around 75 hours in those days.
Nothing seizes to amaze me with this company.
I have seen everything you could wish to see having been with the company for between 2 years and 5 years (wishing to remain anonymous), and am currently searching harder than ever to find employment elsewhere.
I sincerely hope that your search for justice for Lidl employees all over the world comes to something and that you follow this through, and keep writing to them.
When I quit I promise I will help you to bring Lidl down, and seek justice for the stressed, tired, hard working and mentally tortured employees of this fearless employer.
I know that my place will be readily snapped up by someone young, attracted by the good salary, but once they realise what is expected from them they too, will see the light and leave.
As i stated earlier, please please do not in any way use this email address or any of my details that could be linked to me on any of you're pages as I am still an employee.
I just wish to say keep up the hard work, and I know that other Lidl employees look at your page to see if there is light at the end of the tunnel, and a visit will occur so that they can see that leaving the store at 9pm and starting work again at 6am is completely against the law, as these are the times we leave work and start again the next morning. Of course inventories finish around 11pm and the store manager is expected in at 6am to run through any mistakes and get the result with the District Manager.