Why Lululemon will fire employees if they try to stop thieves

• Lululemon has a zero-tolerance policy for employees engaging with thieves.
• CEO Calvin McDonald told CNBC Friday that the policy is meant to protect employees and guests.

Lululemon employees risk losing their jobs if they try to stop a thief from stealing products while on the clock.

The company's CEO, Calvin McDonald, said Friday during a CNBC interview that Lululemon has a strict policy dictating how retail employees should respond to shoplifters.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy that we train our educators on around engaging during a theft. Why? Because we put the safety of our team, of our guest, front and center. It's only merchandise," McDonald said. ("Educators" is what Lululemon calls its employees who work in stores.)

Employees are trained to step back and let the theft occur, he said. The company uses cameras and other technology to help address theft, in addition to working with law enforcement, he said.

"We take that policy seriously because we have had instances — and we have seen with other retailers, instances — where employees step in and are hurt, or worse, killed. And the policy is to protect them. But we have to stand behind the policy to enforce it," McDonald said.

And he's not kidding about enforcement. Recently, two former Lululemon employees in Peachtree Corners, Georgia said they were fired from the retailer after calling the police to report a robbery. One of the employees reportedly filmed the incident.

The police later caught the three robbers, and they were arrested and charged with theft by shoplifting and theft by receiving stolen property, according to a report from NBC News.

McDonald said that during this specific incident, the employees "knowingly broke the policy" and "engaged with the thieves," including following them out of the store. Because of their actions in breaking the policy, they were terminated, he said. He also said that Lululemon employees are allowed to call the police.

"Employees are able and instructed to call 911 when needed, and that was not the cause of termination in this case," Lululemon previously said in a statement to Insider.

Theft is a growing problem for retailers. It's responsible for a majority of "shrinkage" — or inventory losses due to shoplifting, fraud, or other causes. Shrinkage accounted for $95 billion in losses for US retailers in 2021, well up from $91 billion in losses in 2020, according to the National Retail Federation.

Like Lululemon, many retailers prohibit employees from engaging with thieves in order to keep the workers safe. Retailers are instead turning to technology to prevent losses. According to a 2022 Retail Security Survey by the National Retail Federation, some of these technologies include advanced surveillance systems, license plate recognition systems, and RFID systems that can help track down stolen products.