EU: Guidelines agreed on preventing third-party violence and harassment

EU-level trade union and employers' organisations in the local/regional government, healthcare, commerce, private security and education sectors agreed in July 2010 on guidelines aimed at tackling work-related third-party violence and harassment across Europe.

On this page:
Cross-industry agreement on violence and harassment
Sectoral partners focus on third-party violence
Increasing concern
Aims of guidelines
Key elements
Policy frameworks
Implementation and next steps.

Key points

  • In July 2010, the EU-level social partners in five sectors - local/regional government, healthcare, commerce, private security and education - agreed a set of guidelines on tackling third-party violence and harassment related to work.
  • In these sectors, third parties such as clients, customers or members of the public are responsible for a large proportion of workplace violence and harassment.
  • The guidelines seek to ensure that all workplaces in the sectors concerned have a "results-oriented policy" on third-party violence and harassment. They set out practical steps that can be taken by employers, workers and their representatives/trade unions to reduce, prevent and mitigate problems. The steps reflect the best practices developed in the five sectors.
  • The guidelines will be implemented in each EU member state by the trade unions and employers' organisations affiliated to the signatory bodies.

Cross-industry agreement on violence and harassment

In April 2007, the "cross-industry" EU-level social partners signed a framework agreement on dealing with harassment and violence at work. The signatories are the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), plus the Eurocadres/CEC liaison committee, which represents managerial and professional staff unions; BusinessEurope (private sector employers); Ueapme (small and medium-sized enterprises); and Ceep (public services employers). The agreement aimed to increase awareness and understanding among employers, workers and their representatives about workplace harassment and violence, and to provide them with an "action-oriented framework" to identify, prevent and manage these problems.

The accord was "autonomous", in that it was to be implemented by the signatories' member organisations in each EU member states, not by an EU Directive giving it legal force. This was to occur by April 2010. In the UK, implementation took the form of joint guidance issued by the TUC, the CBI and the Partnership of Public Employers - supported by the Government, the HSE and Acas - in November 2009.

Sectoral partners focus on third-party violence

The 2007 cross-industry agreement focused on violence and harassment occurring within organisations and committed by and against employees. It did not contain substantive provisions relating to violence and harassment by third parties such as clients, customers or members of the public. However, in many areas of public and private services, third parties are responsible for a large proportion of workplace violence and harassment. Therefore, the EU-level social partner organisations in the following five sectors decided to undertake joint work on tackling the issue:

  • local and regional government, where the social partners are the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR);
  • healthcare - EPSU and the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers' Association (HOSPEEM);
  • commerce - the European regional organisation of Union Network International (Uni europa) and EuroCommerce;
  • private security - Uni europa and the European Federation of Security Services (CoESS); and
  • education - the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE).
 
 

In many areas of public and private services, third parties are responsible for a large proportion of workplace violence and harassment.

 

With the support of the European Commission, the social partners in the five sectors organised two major conferences in 2008 and 2009, at which employers' and trade unions' research into third-party violence was presented, along with case studies and joint conclusions. Building on this work, the partners negotiated a set of "multisectoral guidelines to tackle third-party violence and harassment related to work", signing them formally on 16 July 2010. The guidelines seek to complement the 2007 cross-industry agreement on violence and harassment.

The aim of the guidelines is to ensure that all workplaces in the sectors concerned have a "results-oriented policy" that addresses the issue of third-party violence and harassment. They set out the practical steps that can be taken by employers, workers and their representatives/trade unions to reduce, prevent and mitigate problems. The steps reflect the best practices developed in the five sectors and can be complemented by more specific and/or additional measures.

Increasing concern

According to the guidelines, the EU-level social partners in local and regional government, healthcare, commerce, private security and education are increasingly concerned about the impact of third-party violence on employees because "it not only undermines an individual's health and dignity, but also has a very real economic impact in terms of absences from the workplace, morale and staff turnover". Further, third-party violence can create an environment that is unsafe and even frightening to the public and service users and therefore has a "wide negative social impact".

Work-related third-party violence and harassment takes many forms. It can:

  • be physical, psychological, verbal and/or sexual;
  • involve one-off incidents or more systematic patterns of behaviour, by an individual or group;
  • originate from the actions or behaviour of clients, customers, patients, service users, pupils or parents, members of the public or service providers;
  • range from disrespect to more serious threats and physical assault;
     
     

    Although there are differences in the third-party violence and harassment faced by workers in different sectors, occupations and workplaces, the key elements of good practice and steps to tackle the problem are common to all working environments.

     
  • be caused by mental health problems or motivated by emotional reasons, personal dislikes and prejudices on grounds of gender, racial/ethnic origin, religion and belief, disability, age, sexual orientation or body image;
  • constitute organised or opportunistic criminal offences aimed at the employee and his or her reputation, or at the property of the employer or client, which require the intervention of the public authorities;
  • deeply affect the "personality, dignity and integrity" of the victims;
  • occur at the workplace or, while being work related, in a public space or a private environment; and
  • take the form of cyber-bullying or cyber-harassment through a wide range of information and communication technologies.

The social partners see the issue of third-party violence and harassment as sufficiently distinct from the question of violence and harassment (among colleagues) in the workplace, and sufficiently significant in terms of its impact on workers' health and safety and its economic effect, to warrant a distinctive approach.

Although there are differences in the third-party violence and harassment faced by workers in different sectors, occupations and workplaces, the key elements of good practice and steps to tackle the problem are common to all working environments. These elements, the guidelines state, are:

  • a partnership approach;
  • clear definitions;
  • prevention through risk assessment, awareness raising and training;
  • clear reporting and follow-up; and
  • appropriate evaluation.

Aims of guidelines

The guidelines aim to support action by employers, workers and their representatives/trade unions to prevent, reduce and mitigate third-party violence and its consequences. The signatory social partner organisations recognise that practical measures for the prevention and management of work-related harassment and/or third-party violence have yet to be developed in many workplaces. These measures should:

  • increase awareness and understanding of the issue among employers, workers, their representatives and public authorities (such as health and safety agencies or the police);
  • demonstrate the commitment of social partners to work together and share experiences and good practice in order to help each other prevent and manage problems of harassment and/or violence instigated by third parties, in order to reduce the impact on employees' health and wellbeing, sickness absence and productivity; and
  • provide employers, workers and their representatives at all levels with guidelines to identify, prevent, manage and tackle problems of work-related harassment and violence instigated by third parties.

Key elements

The guidelines state that the likelihood of third-party harassment and/or violence occurring can be reduced through raising awareness of the issue among employers, employees and service users, and ensuring that managers and workers receive appropriate guidance and training.

The most successful initiatives involve social partners from the beginning and involve a "holistic" approach, covering all aspects, from raising awareness and training to methods of reporting, support for victims, and evaluation and ongoing improvement.

 
 

Employers should have a clear policy framework for the prevention and management of harassment and violence by third parties, which should be incorporated into their general health and safety policies.

 

Employers should have a clear policy framework for the prevention and management of harassment and violence by third parties, which should be incorporated into their general health and safety policies. These policies should be developed by employers in consultation with workers and their representatives, in accordance with national legislation, collective agreements and/or practice. In particular, health and safety risk assessments of workplaces and individual job functions should include an "action-oriented assessment" of the risks posed by third parties.

The multifaceted nature of third-party violence means that policies must be tailored to each work environment. Policies should be kept under regular review in order to take account of experience and related developments in areas such as legislation and technology. Over time, research, experience and technological advances should provide better solutions.

Policy frameworks

The social partners recommend that employers' policy frameworks on third-party violence and harassment should be underpinned in particular by the following elements:

  • ongoing consultation with managers, workers and their representatives/trade unions at all stages;
  • a clear definition of third-party violence and harassment, giving examples of different forms that this can take;
  • appropriate information to clients, customers, service users, members of the public, pupils, parents and/or patients, outlining that harassment and violence towards employees will not be tolerated and that, if appropriate, legal action will be taken;
  • risk assessments that take into account the various occupations, locations and working practices, and allow the identification of potential problems and the design of appropriate responses and practices, such as:
    • managing expectations by providing clear information regarding the nature and level of service that clients, customers, service users and so on should expect and the provision of procedures for third parties to express dissatisfaction and for such complaints to be investigated,
       
       

      Employers should have clear policies on the support to be provided to employees who are exposed to harassment and/or violence by third parties, which, depending on the circumstances, could involve medical, legal, practical, and/or financial support.

       
    • incorporating safer environments into workplace design,
    • providing suitable tools to safeguard employees, such as communication channels, monitoring and security measures, or
    • reaching cooperation agreements with the relevant public authorities such as the police, courts, social services and inspectorates;
  • appropriate training for management and employees that includes general safety in relation to work tasks and the working environment, and may incorporate more specific skills such as techniques to avoid or manage conflict;
  • a procedure to monitor and investigate allegations of harassment and/or violence from third parties, and to inform the victims of the progress of any relevant investigation and action;
  • clear policies on the support to be provided to employees who are exposed to harassment and/or violence by third parties, which, depending on the circumstances, could involve medical (including psychological), legal, practical, and/or financial support (for example, additional insurance cover that goes beyond statutory obligations);
  • clear requirements regarding the reporting of incidents by employees, and on measures to protect these employees from possible reprisals and refer issues to other public authorities, such as the police or health and safety agencies, in line with national practices and procedures;
  • clear policies on when it is appropriate to file complaints, report a crime or share information regarding perpetrators of third-party violence with other employers and public authorities, while respecting personal integrity, confidentiality, legal obligations and data-protection principles;
  • a transparent and effective procedure for recording facts and figures, for the purposes of monitoring and ensuring follow-up of the policies put in place; and
  • measures to ensure that the policy framework is well known and understood by management, workers and third parties.

The signatories highlight the importance of working with other appropriate partners at national or local level, with the aim of identifying and preventing violence and harassment by having consistent policy approaches.

Implementation and next steps

The first stage of implementing and following up the guidelines is "commitment and dissemination". The signatory organisations will disseminate the guidelines and take measures to assess and address the issue of third-party harassment and violence, using the policy framework described in the guidelines. They will jointly request that the Commission supports a project to disseminate and promote the guidelines, including through workshops to be organised before the end of 2011. The signatories will promote the guidelines in the member states at all appropriate levels, taking account of national practices, through joint and/or separate actions. They will forward the document to "all relevant players" at European and national levels, and invite their members outside the EU to make use of the guidelines.

The second stage is awareness raising. The national member organisations of the EU-level social partners will publicise the issue of third-party harassment and violence, and develop and share best practice in this field within their sectors. This may include further research, publications and conferences drawing together interested parties to share good practice and/or work towards solutions to the problem.

The third stage is monitoring and follow-up. All five sectors involved in the initiative have EU-supported European sectoral social dialogue committees, and the signatory organisations will give a progress report on implementation of the guidelines to their respective committees during 2012. The five committees will then prepare a joint report. The social partners in each sector will take account of the guidelines when drawing up the next work programme for their dialogue committee. Finally, multi-sectoral follow-up meetings will be organised as appropriate and a final joint evaluation will take place in 2013.

In the UK, the guidelines will affect the member organisations of the EU-level signatories. These include the relevant sectoral sections of the main general unions, such as Unite, Unison, GMB and TGWU, as well as sector-specific unions such as USDAW in commerce, the NUT and NASUWT in education, and the RCN in healthcare. On the employer side, organisations involved include Local Government Employers, the Local Government Association, NHS Employers, the National Employers' Organisation for School Teachers, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, the British Retail Consortium and the British Security Industry Association.

 
 

The national member organisations of the EU-level social partners will publicise the issue of third-party harassment and violence, and develop and share best practice in this field within their sectors.

 

The EU-level sectoral social dialogue committees were established in their current form in 1998. They now exist in 40 industries and have agreed a total of more than 500 joint texts. These texts most often take the form of joint declarations, statements and opinions, but they can be more substantive, including binding agreements (which are quite rare), frameworks of actions, guidelines and codes of conduct. These various texts have in almost all cases been negotiated in a single sectoral committee and relate only to the industry concerned.

The new multisectoral guidelines on third-party violence and harassment are therefore unusual, because they deal with a single issue affecting a range of industries. There are only two other multisectoral joint texts of this sort: a 2006 agreement on the handling and use of crystalline silica, affecting 14 industries that use this substance; and a 2008 set of joint guidelines on the responsible awarding of public and private sector contracts, covering catering, cleaning, security and textiles. The Commission is keen to promote such "synergies" between sectors.

This article was written by Mark Carley, European editor.

European employment policy, practice and law, September 2010