EMPLOYMENT COMPLIANCE: HOW TO IDENTIFY AND PREVENT PSYCHOSOCIAL RISKS
The consequences of workplace moral and sexual harassment can give rise to illnesses that may be classified as a work-related accident.
Written by Josep Conesa
Employment and insolvency lawyer
The company may even be held liable for damages caused by the harasser, even where that person is a third party, if the company permits, tolerates, or fails to put in place preventive measures to address such situations.
PSYCHOLOGICAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE
Psychological harassment in the workplace can be defined as a pattern of actions, conduct, or behaviours carried out systematically over time, aimed at causing physical or psychological harm to one or more individuals through the use of an unequal power dynamic, with the purpose of destroying their reputation, severing their communication networks, and disrupting their ability to perform their duties.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE
Sexual harassment can also be defined as conduct of a sexual nature, or other behaviours related to a person's sex, that affect the dignity of women and men in the workplace — including conduct by managers and colleagues — which is unacceptable when one or more of the following circumstances apply:
- The conduct is unwanted, unreasonable, and offensive to the person subjected to it.
- A person's rejection of, or submission to, such conduct by employers or workers (including managers and colleagues) is used explicitly or implicitly as the basis for a decision affecting that person's access to vocational training or employment, continuation in employment, salary, or any other employment-related decisions.
EMPLOYMENT COMPLIANCE
The workplace harassment and sexual harassment protocol is an ideal measure to include in an equality plan, as Organic Law 3/2007 of 22 March on effective equality between women and men makes it mandatory for all companies to implement a sexual harassment prevention protocol, regardless of their size.
EQUALITY PLAN MEASURES AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT
When faced with a situation of workplace harassment (whether psychological or sexual), the company should act as quickly as possible and have preventive organisational measures in place, which should cover the following areas:
- Assess psychosocial risks, and in particular psychological harassment, as part of the company's preventive activity process.
- Provide clear communication channels so that staff can raise complaints about defamation, abuse, degrading treatment, and similar conduct affecting their work or dignity.
- Inform those responsible for prevention and occupational health, as well as employee representatives, that their role includes identifying potential conflicts and possible harassment situations.
- Establish action protocols to identify and investigate the facts involved in harassment situations (HR department).
- Guarantee the confidentiality of reported cases until the person affected consents to their disclosure.
- Establish a code of conduct that engages the entire management hierarchy.
- Train middle managers and senior leaders in skills aimed at managing verbal aggression or disruptive behaviour in the context of conflicts or negotiations.
- Include the assessment of professional profiles in selection processes for managerial or executive roles, ensuring that communication skills and team leadership abilities are taken into account.
- Encourage participation: before proceeding with any role changes, transfers, introduction of new colleagues, job changes, or any other organisational restructuring, it is recommended that the relevant departments inform and consult the employees affected and take into account their personal and professional profiles, comparing them with those required for the new position. This helps avoid work overload or underload for the person concerned, as well as potential related conflicts — and, crucially, ensures that such changes cannot be perceived as suspicious or deliberate decisions designed to serve as pressure tactics, punishment, or an abuse of power, particularly where they coincide with existing personal or ideological tensions.
- Provide a medical and psychological monitoring service.
A first step towards meeting this legal obligation — and towards preventing both situations of this kind and future liability if you are a company — is to put in place a protocol with a formal complaint form. You can obtain the protocol implementation via the following link:
If you would like further information about our expertise in workplace accidents, please do not hesitate to contact us. We hope you found this article useful.
