“The Annual Report 2024 of the Independent Department to monitor violence and harassment in the work of the Labor Inspectorate is primarily aimed at increasing the visibility of the current protective legislative and regulatory framework, as well as its implementation in practice,” (EBEA).

As he said, the coordinated action of all relevant bodies and the involvement of the parties involved contribute to the consolidation of citizens’ confidence and to the gradual change of work culture in the direction of zero tolerance against violent and harassment.

What do the items show

According to the findings of the annual report presented by Ms Antonopoulou, in 2024, the total number of complaints for incidents of violence and harassment in the workplace amounted to 318, with a doubling compared to 2022 (151 complaints).

These are branded complaints submitted to labor relations inspection departments across the territory of a labor dispute, with the majority of these complaints undergoing large urban centers in the country, such as the Regional Directorate of Labor Relations, Athens.

Qualitative and quantitative findings

Gender complaints: 66% women and 34% men, as Ms Antonopoulou said, highlights the greatest vulnerability of women in the workplace while at the same time revealing the existence of male victims of harassment.

Gender complained: 70% men and 30% women, indicating, according to Ms Antonopoulou, the preservation of traditional male sex supervision in certain workplaces.

As he said, compared to previous years, it is observed that vertical mobbing, that is, the violent and harassing behaviors caused by the employer, is decreasing, while the horizontal mobbing – between colleagues – is increasing.

Type of harassment: 280 complaints of verbal violence, moral and psychological harassment were made, of which 46 complaints about physical violence and 38 of sexual harassment.

Within 2024, a sharp increase in the submission of sexual harassment complaints: from 12 cases in 2023 to 38 in 2024.

The overwhelming majority of the complainants were 89%women, and complaints of sexual harassment were made by three men and one transgender person.

The whole of the complainants were men

As noted at the event, in 53% of cases, sexual harassment was reported to have been caused by the employer himself. 47% as a complainant is another employee or responsible.

Concerning the outcome of sexual harassment cases, Ms Antonopoulou said she was optimistic and encouraging that 14 of the 38 cases were resolved by the mediation of the Labor Inspectorate.

The rate of appeal to the competent courts amounted to 26%, while 8% were imposed administrative sanctions.

Branches of Activity of the Businesses

Based on 2024 report data, the first place in complaints about violations of violence and harassment at work are held by businesses operating in the 28%wholesale and retail sectors of hotels and catering, with a cumulative rate of 26%.

According to Ms Antonopoulou, the need for more appropriate measures and targeted action to achieve change of work culture in these sectors is imperative.

As for the sizes of the complained operations, the majority of the complaints were made by 67%of small and medium -sized enterprises. On the other hand, large middle class businesses employing from 151 to 250 employees appear to have largely achieved the required change in working culture with only 3%complaints.

Age distribution

The largest number of complainants (48%), regardless of gender, belongs to the age group of 45-64 years, followed by ages 35-44 with 27%, while with much lower rates of 25-34 years, 18-24 years and over 65 years with only 1%.

In age groups, the first place in the complaints are equal (40%) by generation X and Millennials followed by Zoomers and Baby Boomers.

Outcome and results

In 2024, 31% of the cases were resolved through the mediation of labor inspection services. What has been observed is that the rate of resolution of cases is consistently high, as has happened in previous years.

Also, the resort and appeals gap in the courts was reduced from 47% to 39%.

As Ms Antonopoulou explained, labor relations inspectors recommend the appeal to the competent courts in cases that, due to the conflicting claims of the parties, cannot come to a safe conclusion. The important thing is that, in many cases, the justified finding of the Labor Inspector is a compass and a cornerstone for the operative ruling of the natural judge.

In addition, 10% of cases resulted in administrative sanctions, while 7% of the cases were canceled.

At the same time, in 2024, there was an increase in fines imposed, with most fines imposed by the Athens and Central Macedonia Regional Inspection Directorates.

In the same year, 299 employment regulations were filed with integrated policies against violence and harassment in the workplace, indicating a steady course towards cultivating zero tolerance culture.

It is noted that most employment regulations have been deposited in the large regional units of Attica and Central Macedonia, followed by Crete and Central Greece.

First eight -month elements 2025

During the first eight months of 2025, 1,008 controls were carried out throughout the Greek territory regarding the compliance of businesses on the institutional framework on the issues of violence and harassment at work.

By all the checks:

– 825 checks were scheduled (82%),

– 129 were carried out after anonymous complaints (13%) and

– 54 checks were carried out in the context of labor disputes.

There was targeting controls in specific sectors: retail (22%), focus (15%), wholesale (9%) and accommodation (8%).

Of these checks, a total of 62 violations were found, with the rate of delinquency reaching 6.15%.

The focus holds the first place with 23% of the total violations, followed by retail and wholesale, with 15% and 8% respectively.

The accommodation is relative, with a lower rate of violations (6% of all violations).

The fines imposed during the period under consideration amounted to EUR 120,200, with 65% resulting from labor differences, 22% from on -the -spot checks after anonymous complaints and 13% from scheduled checks.

Overall, in the first eight months of 2025, 307 labor disputes were made on violence and harassment at work, with an increasing tendency compared to 2024 and the culmination of complaints during the summer months.

Mobbing, that is, the phenomenon of verbal violence, psychological and moral harassment, was a dominant form of harassment, accounting for 78% of cases.

At the same time, there was an increase in labor differences containing physical violence compared to 2024.

On the contrary, complaints of sexual harassment have been reduced, with the relative rate of 5.8% of the total.

Labor differences were mainly found in the catering, accommodation and commerce sectors, which garnered 69% of the relevant complaints.

In terms of the profile of the complained companies, small and medium -sized enterprises employing up to 50 employees, with 66.1%, are the overwhelming majority of the complained companies, while small businesses employing up to 10 employees account for 37.2%.