Harassment is a topic that unfortunately affects many people at work. However, it's important to know exactly what it is, the different types, and how to protect yourself against it.
1. Definition of harassment
According to the Labor Code, harassment is a form of discrimination. The legislature defines this term as any undesirable behavior that has the purpose or effect of violating an employee's dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment.
2. Does any negative behavior towards an employee constitute harassment?
Absolutely not. Workplace harassment will only occur when the conduct violates an employee's dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment. The conduct doesn't have to be directed at these violations, and the perpetrator doesn't have to act with this goal in mind. It's sufficient that an objective assessment can determine that the specific action resulted in the violations described above.
It is worth emphasizing that even lawful actions which, due to the manner or form of their use, result in violating the dignity of an employee and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive atmosphere towards him will constitute harassment (see: Judgment of the Supreme Court - Labour and Social Insurance Chamber of 7 November 2018, II PK 210/17).
3. Should an employer take any action in response to harassment?
First and foremost, it's important to note that employers should not allow situations that constitute harassment to occur in their workplace. They are obligated to counteract discrimination. The actions employers take can take a variety of forms, from training, ensuring an atmosphere conducive to reporting misconduct and enforcing the consequences associated with it, or even creating a work culture within the organization that explicitly prohibits such activities.
In the next article, we will address the topic of a specific type of harassment – sexual harassment – and the options available to employees in connection with the occurrence of this phenomenon.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of February 20, 2025
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