>>Here is an extract from an article about Lidl supermarkets in the paper at the weekend.
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>>In March, Lidl was accused of using Stasi methods to spy on its German staff and collect intimate details about their personal lives, including their bank accounts, relationships, and the frequency of their lavatory breaks. Observation period 9-14 July, 2007, at a branch near Hanover, reads: 'Saturday 10.10am Ms J tells Ms L that she has never paid her television licence fees because she is still registered with her parents, even though she lives with her boyfriend. The detective's end-of-week advice to management is that Ms J is a security risk.' One report from the Czech Republic revealed that staff members were banned from going to the toilet during their shifts. The only exception were women on their period, who, according to an internal memo were allowed 'to go to the toilet now and again, but to enjoy this privilege they should wear a visible headband'.
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>I don't see Walter screaming or anyone else for that matter. I guess that is acceptable in the EU?

No, this is not acceptable. This also happened to some extend in the Aldi supermarkets. The employees have rights that were violated in those cases. AFAIK, this is regulated to some extend and there were a few cases taken to court. To be frank, I don't know the outcome. Most of the time, the employee will win, if it can be proved the employer was using such practises. However they often still lose their job because they moved them into an impossilbe employee - employer relationship.

BTW, I remember more or less the same practises are comonly used at wallmart.