What is the workplace harassment law?
Labor harassment is legally regulated in Colombia by Law 1010 of 2006 and by several rulings of the Constitutional Court, Article 2 of the Law indicates that labor harassment is “any persistent and demonstrable conduct, exercised over an employee, worker by an employer, a boss or immediate or immediate superior, a co-worker or a subordinate, aimed at instilling fear, intimidation, terror and anguish, to cause harm at work, generate demotivation at work, or induce resignation from work”.
The objective of workplace harassment is generally to get the employee to resign, but this is not always the case, since, as established by the aforementioned definition, harassment may be used to force a certain conduct or a decision by the employee.
It may be evidenced as harassment, insults, physical, psychological, emotional, systematic or occasional abuse; the law itself classifies the types, modalities, or classes of workplace harassment into 6 groups:
What is meant by workplace harassment?
- Labor mistreatment: Any act of violence against physical or moral integrity, physical or sexual freedom and the property of the employee or any act that harms the rights to privacy and good name, in conclusion, any act aimed at undermining the self-esteem and dignity of those who participate in a work relationship.
- Labor persecution: Any conduct aimed at inducing the resignation of the employee, through acts of disqualification, excessive workload and permanent changes of schedule that may produce labor demotivation.
- Discrimination in the workplace: Any differential treatment that is considered negative to a worker for reasons of race, gender, origin, age, ideology, religion, political beliefs or social condition.
- Labor hindrance: Any action that hinders the performance of the work or makes it more burdensome or delays it to the detriment of the worker.
- Labor inequity: It is configured when functions are assigned to the detriment of the worker.
- Lack of workplace protection: Any conduct aimed at putting the employee’s integrity and safety at risk through orders or assignments of tasks or functions, without meeting the minimum protection and safety requirements for the employee.
It is important to note that the employer is obliged to prevent and correct workplace harassment in accordance with Article 9 of Law 1010 of 2006; furthermore, they are also required to include mechanisms to prevent workplace harassment in the Internal Work Regulations and establish a confidential and conciliatory internal procedure to address situations involving workplace harassment.
