What is a workplace mobbing?
Mobbing is another term for abuse at work. Harassment is any active or passive behavior towards an employee or a group of employees of the employer that is repeated, and which aims at or constitutes a violation of the dignity, reputation, personal and professional integrity, health, position of the employee and that causes fear or creates a hostile, humiliating or offensive environment, worsens the working conditions or causes the employee to isolate himself or lead him to terminate the employment relationship or cancel the employment contract or other contract on his own initiative. Therefore, it is crucial that mobbing can only be talked about if there are several actions that are repeated. Mobbing cannot be done with one action.
How to recognize mobbing?
Mobbing can manifest itself in the following ways:
- Verbal abuse: shouting, threats, insults, ridicule, gossip
• Isolation: ignoring the employee’s presence, avoiding communication, unjustified physical isolation
• Professional belittling: constant unjustified criticism, belittling work, giving humiliating or too difficult tasks
• Withholding information: intentionally withholding information related to work, unjustified exclusion from education and professional development
• Threats and pressures: constant pressures and threats of dismissal or termination of the contract
In practice, and mostly in the public sector, mobbing by the employer is often motivated by the political views and actions of the employee or, for example, by his trade union activities. As a rule, such attitudes and actions of the employee do not have any harmful effect on the employee’s work, however, the employer puts pressure on the employee in some of the above-mentioned ways in order to force him to resign on his own. It is important to recognize such acts of abuse at work and oppose them in a legally valid and effective manner.
Who can be a victim and who is the perpetrator of mobbing?
The perpetrator of mobbing can be an employer with the status of a natural person or a responsible person at the employer with the status of a legal entity, an employee or a group of employees of the employer. Thus, the abuser can be a superior, which is called vertical mobbing, or a colleague who is not a superior, which is called horizontal mobbing. A victim of abuse, in addition to an employee, can also be a person who performs work outside the employment relationship (on the basis of contracts on temporary and occasional jobs, work contracts, professional training, volunteering, etc.). The rules apply equally to the private and public sectors.
What are the employer’s obligations?
The employer is obliged to:
– before starting work, inform the employee in writing about the prohibition of abuse and the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the employee and the employer in relation to the prohibition of abuse
– organize work in a way that prevents the occurrence of abuse
– implement measures to inform and train employees to recognize the causes, forms and consequences of abuse
– protect the employee from abuse and is therefore responsible for the damage caused to another employee by the responsible person or employees who committed abuse. After compensating the damage, the employer has the right of recourse from those persons.
What is the procedure in case of mobbing?
If the abuser is another employee, there is an obligation to initiate protection proceedings before the employer. Therefore, a lawsuit cannot be immediately filed with the court. If the abuser is an employer with the capacity of a natural person or a responsible person in a legal entity, then the procedure before the employer is only a possibility, that is, it is allowed to immediately file a lawsuit in court.
Who bears the burden of proof?
If during the procedure the prosecutor made it probable that abuse was committed, the burden of proving that there was no behavior constituting abuse is on the employer.
Can I receive monetary compensation for the mobbing suffered?
The answer is yes, you can, if you can prove that you suffered mobbing, of course. Then the plaintiff has the right to compensation for material and non-material damage, and in addition the right to establish that he suffered abuse, prohibition of conduct that constitutes abuse, prohibition of further abuse, i.e. repetition of abuse, execution of actions to remove the consequences of abuse and publication of the judgment.
Tips for successful protection against mobbing
If you believe that you are a victim of mobbing, it is recommended that you take the following steps:
-gathering evidence: keep a detailed log of incidents, save e-mails, messages and other relevant evidence
-medical documentation: consult a doctor who can document the impact of mobbing on your physical and mental health
-legal assistance: contact a labor law attorney who will provide you with adequate professional assistance
Danilo Babić- lawyer in Novi Sad
