Employers pledge to end harassment

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has signed a framework agreement with Europe-wide employers’ associations on tackling harassment and violence at work.

Signed on 26 April following 10 months of negotiations, the agreement aims to:

• “increase the awareness and understanding of employers, workers and their representatives of workplace harassment and violence”; and

• provide these groups with “an action-oriented framework” to identify, prevent and manage cases of harassment and violence.

Setting out the different forms that harassment and violence can take, the agreement stresses that they “can potentially affect any workplace and any worker”, irrespective of organisational size and activity.

It adds that employers need to negotiate a clear statement making it clear that harassment and violence will not be tolerated and specifying the procedures – both formal and informal – to be followed if they occur. Included in the agreement are examples of the elements that must underpin these procedures, such as the need to act on complaints quickly and with discretion while ensuring fair and impartial treatment to all involved.

The ETUC says the agreement is “a major achievement” for the process of European-level discussions between employers and unions. Although it will not lead to new legislation, both sides have committed themselves to implementing it in individual member states over the next three years.

The agreement is available at www.etuc.org/a/3574