Workplace harassment

What is workplace harassment and what is not

Workplace harassment is characterized by three elements: harassing behaviors (isolation, discrediting, overloading or stripping of duties, humiliation, threats), their repetition and prolongation over time, and a power imbalance between the harasser and the victim, which can be hierarchical (downward or upward) or between equals (horizontal). Its effect is the degradation of the work environment and damage to the health of the affected person, including anxiety, sleep disturbances, depressive symptoms, and deterioration of their social and professional life.

Not all conflict is harassment. Disagreements, isolated interpersonal conflicts, the legitimate exercise of management authority (task assignment, performance evaluation, justified disciplinary sanctions), or pressure to meet demanding objectives do not in themselves constitute harassment, although they can be psychosocial risk factors that require management. This distinction is relevant for legal classification and for choosing the appropriate response: mediation, conflict management, or activation of the harassment protocol.

Workplace harassment differs from sexual harassment and harassment based on sex, as defined in Organic Law 3/2007, and from discriminatory harassment for other reasons, although companies often include them in a single protocol. ILO Convention 190, ratified by Spain, encompasses all these behaviors under the concept of violence and harassment in the world of work.

Applicable legal framework in Spain

• Law 31/1995. Harassment is a psychosocial risk that the employer must assess and prevent under the duty of protection (articles 14 and 16); its omission may constitute a serious infringement in accordance with the LISOS.
• Workers’ Statute. Right to respect for privacy and due consideration for dignity, including protection against harassment (Article 4.2.e); harassment is grounds for disciplinary dismissal (Article 54.2.g) and for termination with compensation at the worker’s request (Article 50).
• Penal Code, article 173.1. Crime of workplace harassment: repeated hostile or humiliating acts, within the scope of an employment or civil service relationship and taking advantage of a superior relationship, which constitute serious harassment against the victim.
• Organic Law 3/2007. Obligation of companies to promote conditions that prevent sexual harassment and harassment based on sex and to establish specific procedures for its prevention and reporting.
• Law 15/2022, comprehensive law for equal treatment and non-discrimination. It defines discriminatory harassment and strengthens prevention obligations.
• Technical Criterion 69/2009 of the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate . Actions of the Inspectorate in matters of harassment and violence at work, with criteria on the responsibility of employers for not preventing or not acting.
• ILO Convention 190. International framework on violence and harassment in the world of work, with a preventive and inclusive approach.

Prevention and intervention

• Primary prevention. Psychosocial risk assessment , clear work organization, respectful leadership, conflict management, and a zero-tolerance policy communicated to all staff.
• Protocol of action. Written procedure, negotiated with the representatives, with a confidential communication channel, investigation of the complaint by trained persons, precautionary measures, deadlines and guarantees for all parties, including protection against reprisals.
• Intervention. Impartial investigation, proportionate organizational or disciplinary measures, support for the affected person and follow-up.
• Health surveillance. Detection of harm and coordination with the prevention service while respecting confidentiality. Leymann’s LIPT-60 , an inventory of psychological harassment behaviors, can support this detection without replacing the psychosocial risk assessment.
• Training. Managers and staff trained in identifying behaviors, prevention and use of the protocol.

Organizational application: how to prevent and manage harassment

1. Approve and communicate a declaration of principles of zero tolerance towards harassment, endorsed by management and consulted with representatives.
2. Include harassment and violence in the assessment of psychosocial risks and in preventive planning.
3. Develop a protocol with a confidential channel, a formed investigating committee, deadlines, precautionary measures, guarantees of impartiality and protection against reprisals.
4. To train managers and staff in the identification of harassment behaviors, the difference with conflict and the functioning of the protocol.
5. Act immediately upon receiving any communication, document the investigation, and take proportionate and verifiable measures.
6. Coordinate with the prevention service the health care of the affected people and the subsequent follow-up.
7. Review the protocol periodically and record indicators (communications received, response times, results) with guarantees of confidentiality.

Preventive management software allows for the recording of psychosocial assessments, training, and resulting actions, and for the documentation of protocol actions with traceability and restricted access.

Limits and common mistakes

1. Labeling any interpersonal conflict as harassment, or denying harassment by reducing it to a conflict between equals.
2. Having a formal protocol without training, without a real confidential channel, and without the will to apply it.
3. Delaying action after a report or demanding impossible proof from the affected person before investigating.
4. Adopting the transfer of the victim as the only measure, which may constitute retaliation.
5. Confusing the legitimate exercise of managerial power with harassment, or using that confusion to protect abusive behavior.
6. Failure to document actions, which prevents proving business diligence before the Inspection or the courts.

The legal classification of a situation as harassment is the responsibility of the competent authorities; this information sheet is for informational purposes only and does not replace professional advice.

Regulatory framework in Spain

• Law 31/1995, articles 14, 15 and 16. Duty of protection, preventive principles and risk assessment, including psychosocial risks.
• Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, Workers’ Statute, articles 4.2.e, 50 and 54. Right to dignity, termination at the worker’s request and disciplinary dismissal for harassment.
• Organic Law 10/1995, of the Penal Code, article 173.1 . Crime of workplace harassment.
• Organic Law 3/2007, of March 22, articles 7 and 48. Sexual harassment and harassment based on sex and prevention measures in the company.
• NTP 854 of the INSST . Psychological harassment at work: definition.
• Instrument of ratification of ILO Convention 190. Violence and harassment in the world of work.

In Colombia, Law 1010 of 2006 regulates workplace harassment and requires workplace coexistence committees; in other countries the issue is addressed through equality, risk prevention or criminal regulations.