The Independent Labor Inspection Authority is launching an information campaign for employees and employers as part of awareness-raising activities on issues of violence and harassment, with the primary concern of creating conditions of zero tolerance towards such phenomena.

In this context, the establishment and operation of an independent department for monitoring violence and harassment at work is also important, which, in the previous year, received 230 complaints.

Based on the annual report of the relevant department of the Labor Inspectorate for 2023, which has already been announced, the most reported incidents of violence and harassment came from retail and wholesale trade (21%), hotels (12%) and catering (7%).

The great majority (95%) of complaints related to incidents of violence (verbal, physical and psychological) and only 5% to sexual harassment, underlining, according to the Labor Inspectorate, the long-term trend of reporting these, due to the specificity and difficulty as to their proof.

Regarding fthe gender of affected workers on all complaints for 2023, 180 were women (60%) and 120 were men (40%), which confirms that the position of women in the labor market remains more vulnerable and weaker than that of men.

Information action

Regarding the information action, Independent Labor Inspection Authority created a comprehensive guide to dealing with the phenomenon in print and online form.

It will be distributed to workplaces by Labor Inspectors during inspections, while it is digitally available at https://www.hli.gov.gr/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/bia-parenohlisi.pdf.

The action of the Labor Inspectorate to immediately inform employees and employers has the support of the Ministry of Labour.

At the same time, with the contribution of “HELLA-DIKA MAS”, a community of extroverted, productive, manufacturing businesses, Greek property, which aims to highlight and promote the modern, business and productive culture of the country, the guide will be promoted to businesses- its members, so that it can be distributed to employees.

Speaking to APE-MPE, head of the Labor Relations Inspection Planning and Coordination Directorate, Alexandra Brumoustates the following: “Violence and harassment in the world of work remains a serious challenge, which requires actions in the direction of prevention as well as addressing and combating the phenomenon.

The Labor Inspectorate, emphasizing the value of information and awareness, recalls that any form of violence and harassment questions the safety and health of employees, affects the quality of working life and can cause physical or even mental harm.

Through these actions, we seek for employees to learn their rights, so that they can recognize and report such incidents, while employers realize the duty of care and concern they have towards their staff, as well as their responsibility to create conditions zero tolerance for violence and harassment, with a view to their productivity, reputation and business performance, which may be adversely affected if measures are not taken and appropriate business policies and practices are not established to prevent and address such phenomena.”

The main points

According to the guide, the aggrieved person has the right to request a labor dispute.

The Labor Inspectorate will set a date for discussing the labor dispute, to which the affected person, the employer and any other complained person in the company will be invited.

The discussion of the application is determined within 10 days from its submission.

The procedure is conducted confidentially, with the possibility of individual examination of those involved.

The Labor Inspector seeks, through his mediation, the employer’s compliance and requires him to take the necessary measures at the expense of the complainant (e.g. recommendation of compliance, change of position, hours, place or way of providing work), so that he does not the incident is repeated.

In the event of non-compliance by the employer, the Labor Inspector may impose a monetary fine of between 500 euros and 10,500 euros, depending on the gravity of the incident.

When the affected person invokes facts or elements from which it is possible that an incident of violence and harassment occurred, the complainant has the burden of proving that such circumstances did not occur before a competent administrative authority or the court.

Also, the aggrieved person has the right to submit a relevant complaint for an investigation within the company, to address the Ombudsman, if at the same time the principle of equal treatment at work is violated and to appeal to the court.

If he believes that there is a serious risk to his life, health or safety, he is entitled to leave the workplace for a reasonable period of time, until the risk ceases, without a cut in salary or other adverse consequence, after informing his employer in writing, reporting the incident of violence and harassment, which justifies the belief that there is such a risk, keeping proof of this information.

At the same time, he can turn to the Labor Inspector, who calls the complainant for written explanations and issues an order with immediate effect to the employer to take specific temporary measures to stop the risk.

For each day that the employer does not implement the measures, a fine of 1,500 euros is imposed.

As long as the employer takes appropriate measures and the risk ceases, he must return to work.

What are the employer’s obligations?

Every employer, regardless of the number of staff employed, is obliged to:

– to inform employees about the possible risks of violence and harassment in the workplace, the relevant prevention and protection measures, as well as about his obligations and the rights of employees regarding such incidents,

– to receive, investigate and manage any complaint or related report with confidentiality and respect for human dignity and

– post in the workplace and inform about the procedures followed by the company for reporting and dealing with such forms of behavior.

In addition, every employer employing more than 20 people is required to adopt specific policies to prevent and combat violence and harassment at work and to handle internal complaints about incidents of violence and harassment.

According to the law, any retaliatory behavior, such as the termination of the employment contract and any other adverse treatment, against the person who has reported, testified, provided information or requested legal protection for an incident of violence or harassment is prohibited.

Finally, for any omission by the employer regarding the above obligations, it is possible to submit a named or anonymous complaint to the Labor Inspectorate:

– through the electronic complaint submission service at the link: https://apps.sepenet.gr/portal/login,

– in person at the competent Labor Inspection department, in the area where the employee is employed, from Monday to Friday, from 09:00 to 13:00 or via e-mail,

– via the complaint hotline 1555.