EU: Social partners sign deal on workplace harassment and violence
The central EU-level social partner organisations have concluded a European agreement on harassment and violence at work. The agreement, which will be implemented at national level by the signatories' member trade union and employers' organisations, sets out to increase awareness and understanding of the problem and provide a framework for dealing with it.
On this page:
Background
A matter of "mutual concern" for
employers and workers
Definition of harassment and violence
Preventing, identifying and managing
problems
Implementation
and follow-up
Reaction
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Key points On 26 April 2007, the central EU-level social partner organisations signed a framework agreement on harassment and violence at work, which:
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The "cross-industry" social partner organisations are:
- the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), with input from the Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff (Eurocadres)/European Confederation of Executives and Managerial Staff (CEC) liaison committee;
- BusinessEurope (formerly Unice);
- the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (Ueapme); and
- the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (Ceep).
Background
In their 2003-05 joint work programme, the social partners agreed to explore the possibility of negotiating a voluntary agreement on harassment at work. In January 2005, the European Commission contributed to the partners' deliberations by consulting them on the usefulness of an EU-level initiative on "the protection of the health and safety of workers at work against all forms of violence at the workplace, including bullying".
This was a first-stage consultation under the procedure laid down in arts. 138 and 139 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) whereby, before submitting proposals in the social policy field, the commission consults the social partners on the possible direction of Community action. Then, if the commission considers Community action advisable, it consults a second time, on the content of the envisaged proposal. At that stage, the social partners may seek to negotiate a European-level agreement on the issue in question. Such agreements can be implemented in one of two ways: "in accordance with the procedures and practices specific to management and labour and the member states" - ie by the signatories' national member organisations themselves; or, at the joint request of the signatory parties, by an EU Directive proposed by the commission.
The context for this EU-level interest is an increased awareness that harassment, violence - or the threat of violence - and bullying are widespread in workplaces and contribute to work-related psychological health problems, which appear to be on the increase. For example, the recently published findings of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions' fourth European Working Conditions Survey, 5% of workers interviewed reported having been exposed to bullying and/or harassment in the previous 12-month period. A similar proportion said that they had been victims of violence at work, although more reported violence from people from outside their workplace (4%) than from fellow workers (2%). Women, white-collar workers and employees of larger companies were found to be more exposed to risks related to harassment and violence. The worst-affected sectors were health and social work, education, public administration, transport, and hotels and restaurants.
The social partners included negotiation of an agreement on violence at work in their 2006-08 joint work programme. Talks started in June 2006, resulting in an accord that was officially signed at a ceremony in Brussels on 26 April 2007. The commission never moved to the formal second stage of consultations.
A matter of "mutual concern" for employers and workers
The agreement (PDF format, 556K) (on the European Commission website) states that "mutual respect for the dignity of others at all levels within the workplace is one of the key characteristics of successful organisations". This means that harassment and violence are unacceptable, and the signatories condemn them in all their forms. They see it is a "mutual concern of employers and workers" to deal with this issue, which can have serious social and economic consequences.
EU and national law, the agreement notes, define the employer's duty to protect workers against harassment and violence in the workplace. The relevant EU Directives include: 2000/43/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin; 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation; 2002/73/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions; and 89/391/EEC on measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work (the health and safety "framework" Directive).
Various forms of harassment and violence can affect workplaces, according to the agreement. They can:
- be physical, psychological and/or sexual;
- be one-off incidents or more systematic patterns of behaviour;
- be among colleagues, between superiors and subordinates or by "third parties" such as clients, customers, patients or pupils; and
- range from "minor cases of disrespect" to more serious acts, including criminal offences, that require the intervention of the public authorities.
The social partners recognise that harassment and violence can potentially affect any workplace and any worker, irrespective of the size of the company, field of activity or form of the employment contract or relationship. However, they add that certain groups and sectors can be more at risk, and that in practice not all workplaces and workers are affected.
The agreement deals with those forms of harassment and violence that are "within the competence of social partners" and correspond to a description that it sets out (see below). Its aim is to:
- increase awareness and understanding among employers, workers and their representatives of workplace harassment and violence; and
- provide employers, workers and their representatives at all levels with an "action-oriented framework" to identify, prevent and manage problems of harassment and violence at work.
Definition of harassment and violence
The agreement defines the behaviour to which it applies. Harassment and violence, it states, are "due to unacceptable behaviour by one or more individuals" and can take many different forms, some of which may be more easily identified than others. The work environment can influence people's exposure to harassment and violence.
Harassment occurs when workers or managers are repeatedly and deliberately abused, threatened and/or humiliated in circumstances relating to work.
Violence occurs when workers or managers are assaulted in circumstances relating to work.
Harassment and violence may be "carried out by one or more managers or workers, with the purpose or effect of violating a manager's or worker's dignity, affecting his/her health and/or creating a hostile work environment".
Preventing, identifying and managing problems
Raising awareness and appropriate training of managers and workers can reduce the likelihood of harassment and violence at work, according to the social partners.
Enterprises need to have a clear statement outlining that harassment and violence will not be tolerated. This statement should specify procedures to be followed where cases arise. These procedures may include an informal stage at which a "person trusted by management and workers" is available to give advice and assistance. The agreement accepts that pre-existing procedures in companies may be suitable for dealing with harassment and violence.
A suitable procedure will be "underpinned by but not confined to" the following principles:
- it is in the interest of all parties to "proceed with the necessary discretion to protect the dignity and privacy of all";
- no information should be disclosed to parties not involved in the case;
- complaints should be investigated and dealt with without undue delay;
- all parties involved should receive an impartial hearing and fair treatment;
- complaints should be backed up by detailed information;
- false accusations should not be tolerated and may result in disciplinary action; and
- external assistance "may help".
If it is established that harassment and violence has occurred, appropriate measures should be taken in relation to the perpetrator(s). This may include disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. The victim(s) must receive support and, if necessary, help with reintegration.
Employers, in consultation with workers and/or their representatives, should establish, review and monitor procedures to ensure that they are effective both in preventing problems and dealing with issues as they arise.
Although the focus of the procedures outlined in the agreement is on intra-organisation problems, it states that "where appropriate", they can be applied to deal with cases of violence by external parties.
The "autonomous" European framework agreement will be implemented in accordance with the procedures and practices specific to management and labour in the member states (and in the three other countries of the European Economic Area - Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), as laid down in art. 139 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC). The signatories also invite their member organisations in candidate countries for EU membership (Croatia, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) to implement the agreement.
The agreement will be put into effect within three years of being signed (ie by April 2010). The signatories will report on implementation to the social dialogue committee (their standing body for discussions). The committee will prepare and adopt an annual table summarising the ongoing implementation of the agreement for each of the next three years, and then a full report on implementation during the fourth year. The signatories may evaluate and review the agreement at any time after five years have passed, if requested by one of them.
If they have questions on the content of this agreement, national member organisations can jointly or separately refer these to the signatory parties, which will jointly or separately reply. When implementing this agreement, the signatories' member organisations will "avoid unnecessary burdens" on small and medium-sized companies.
Implementation of this agreement will not "constitute valid grounds to reduce the general level of protection afforded to workers" in the field it covers. Further, it does not prejudice the right of social partner organisations to conclude, at the appropriate level (including European level), agreements "adapting and/or complementing this agreement in a manner that will take note of the specific needs of the social partners concerned".
Reaction
In a joint press release, the signatory organisations stated: "The successful conclusion of this negotiation is a major achievement for the European social dialogue work programme 2006-08." Vladimir Spidla, the commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, who was present at the signing ceremony, said: "Social Europe has made an important step forward today. The existing tools for protecting workers' health and safety have been completed by a social partners' agreement against violence and harassment at the workplace. This is further proof of the success of social dialogue in producing concrete results for workers and employers in Europe."
The harassment accord is the sixth cross-industry European agreement. The first three - on parental leave in 1995, part-time work in 1997 and fixed-term work in 1999 - were, at the request of the social partners, implemented by means of EU Directives. They were essentially responses to relatively concrete European Commission proposals for legislation, and became legislation themselves. The three subsequent agreements have been "autonomous" - that is, resulting from rather less detailed prompting from the commission and implemented by the signatories' national member organisations, rather than being given the force of law. These accords have dealt with telework in 2002, work-related stress in 2004, and now harassment and violence.
The social partners' autonomous agreements are implemented in rather different ways across Europe, reflecting countries' industrial relations systems and traditions. For example, the telework agreement was put into effect by national framework accords of various kinds between the social partners in countries such as Finland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, and by collective agreements at a variety of levels in cases such as Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg. In the UK and Ireland, implementation was by means of a guide or code of conduct produced by the social partners. A similar diversity can be expected in the application of the European accord on violence and harassment.
This article was written by Mark Carley, editor,
European Employment Review.
European Employment
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