Moral harassment at work

Everyone knows that moral harassment is a harm punishable by law and therefore a crime subject to legal sanctions.

Indeed, it degrades working conditions, undermines productivity in both the private and public sectors. According to current legislation, a company and a union must protect employees against moral harassment at work, whether they are civil servants or interns.

Moral harassment at work: what to do?

In the private sector, it should be noted that there are avenues of recourse to defend oneself against harassment. Indeed, current legislation requires the employer to fulfill their obligations so that they take measures to prevent such abusive behaviors.

If you have suffered moral harassment in the private sector, the law is obliged to protect you, whatever your status: employee, intern, or temporary worker, do not hesitate to file a complaint for moral harassment.

Harassment is strictly prohibited by law, even when you and the perpetrator of the offense have no hierarchical relationship.

In the public sector, several remedies can be implemented to defend the civil servant against all kinds of harassment. Indeed, the administration is obliged to implement a pre-emptive policy to prevent such acts.

Thus, in case of moral harassment in the public sector, every civil servant will be protected by the law in force, whatever their status: tenured, contractual, or intern.

The type of moral harassment leads to several actions against a particular person that could harm their working conditions and lead to:

• Non-respect and rejection of their rights or dignity.
• Damage to their integrity and physical well-being or mental injury.
• A risk to their professional development or growth.

In this article, we will define harassment and what the law on bullying says. We will give you some leeway to prevent it from happening inside or outside the workplace.

Moral harassment criminal code: What does the law say?

The criminal code punishes harassment, which is also a crime. Moral harassment can affect all types of people and occur in various social layers and environments.

What interests us here is moral harassment which is a recurring action during which the harasser commits repetitive acts, harming the victim psychologically, even physically in the long term.

The criminal code advises you to call on a defender in case of such an act. They will show you the way forward and the administrative procedures to follow.

What does the law think about harassment?

Moral harassment at work is actually the constant repetition of actions that cause negative consequences on the psychological and physiological level of a harassment victim at work.

It is somewhat an act of violence or psychological abuse at work, even within the moral framework, and is not an isolated case.

According to the penal code, notably article no. 222-33: “the action taken against another person by repeated statements or actions aimed at denigrating or degrading working conditions or harming dignity or rights, impairing physical or intellectual health or professional future is punishable by two years imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros.”

The law does not disregard the nature of the relationship between the harasser and the harassed, nor the place, the location or the environment in which the action took place. The law also does not consider whether colleagues are couples, neighborhood neighbors, or parents of students from the same area.

What matters is that bullying at work is punishable under all conditions. The sanction will then depend on the extent and repetition of these acts.

Here are the different types of moral harassment at work:

• Insults or various types of verbal harassment
• Obscenities in the workplace
• Threats of all kinds
• Disparaging messages on voicemail or emails
• Unwanted visits

Harassment at work, what to do?

In case of harassment at work, assert your right to defense. To do so, use the procedures we will indicate below or several at the same time:

Notify the CSE as well as the staff association

If you are a victim of harassment at your workplace, call on union representatives. They can advise you on the administrative channels and procedures to follow. Also inform the CSE or the company’s economic and social committee if your company has one. Otherwise, inform your boss.

Inform the labor inspector

Use this option if the harassment took place inside or outside the workplace but involves an employee or colleague. The labor inspection will send a control officer to verify the facts you report. If the harassment is proven, the officer will conduct a thorough investigation. At the end of the investigation, if the offense has been committed: the prosecutor will be informed.

Who to contact?

The victim has the right to directly appeal to the Departmental Directorate in charge of employment, labor, and solidarity, called: DDETS / DDETS-PP/DRIEETS formerly DIRECCTE.

Labor Inspectorate 95	Labor Inspectorate 94	Labor Inspectorate 91
Labor Inspectorate 93	Labor Inspectorate 92	Labor Inspectorate 77
Labor Inspectorate Paris	Labor Inspectorate Rouen	Labor Inspectorate Orléans
Labor Inspectorate Rennes	Labor Inspectorate Nancy	Labor Inspectorate Strasbourg
Labor Inspectorate Toulouse	Labor Inspectorate Bordeaux	Labor Inspectorate Marseille

Initiate a compromise process

Your best bet is to go through a compromise process between you and your harasser. However, the choice of mediator must be agreed upon by both opposing parties. There are a number of professionals who can provide this type of mediation service.

Check with the staff union or your employer to identify who the harasser is. The mediator’s prerogative is to amicably reconcile the two parties. They then propose to put in writing the end of the harassment if there is an agreement between the two parties.

Most of the time, the harasser will be assigned to a new job. However, if the amicable reconciliation fails, the mediator has the duty to show the victim their rights in order to assert them more easily before the court.

Refer the case to the labor tribunal

The procedure for referring the case to the labor tribunal is conducted within the framework of compensating the damage suffered by the victim. Indeed, the victim must be able to provide evidence incriminating the perpetrator of the harassment, such as emails, messages, or recorded calls. The advantage of referring the case to the labor court is to benefit from a 5-year limitation period after the last harassment.

Mandatory, the procedure will be initiated against the employer, even if they are not the perpetrator of the acts or harassment. In this case, the employer will be taken to court because they were supposed to protect the victim against repeated harassment.

In the event of dismissal, the employer will be sanctioned by law for wrongful dismissal if you had previously reported harassment that occurred in the establishment.

Refer the case to the criminal judge

If you have been a victim of harassment, you can appeal to a criminal court to prosecute the perpetrator. To do this, make an additional claim alongside the labor tribunal claim against the employer.

For information: if you take your employer and the harasser to court, whoever they may be: hierarchical superior, client, your claim must be no more than 6 years old, starting from the most recent date of the facts (evolution of the harassment). The court will therefore examine all the facts orchestrated by the same harasser even if the process has been iterative for several years.

Calling on a lawyer

Indeed, if you are morally harassed and you notice that it is based on discriminatory criteria: color, sex, age, sexual preference: call on a human rights defender. They have a delegate who is probably near your workplace or your home.

Example of moral harassment at work

You are probably asking yourself the question “What fact is considered moral harassment?” or “What characterizes harassment?”

The legislation states that moral harassment is considered an abusive act distinguished by words, actions, gestures, inscriptions that harm the health, dignity, moral and physical integrity of the employee.

This could even lead the employee to jeopardize their job or harm the company’s environment.

Here are some examples we offer you so that you can identify the types of harassment that may occur. Thus, you will no longer have difficulty distinguishing work pressure from workplace bullying.

Because in case of abusive denunciation, you could be judged by a court and face sanctions.

Denigration and intimidation

This type of harassment occurs if the employee is criticized or denigrated by an employee of the same rank. This person would have made mocking remarks and would denigrate them. Intimidation also occurs when the employer sends the employee senseless and inappropriate emails.

According to the court, these are moral and psychological violences affecting the health and moral integrity of the employee. Denigration and intimidation are reprehensible acts by the employer that are subject to harassment before the courts.

Criticism and inappropriate language

We consider criticism or inappropriate comments in the case where the hierarchical superior constantly criticizes the employee’s professional activity in order to denigrate them, and this, in front of other employees.

Public humiliation

Public humiliation is carried out by a superior who hurts the subordinate with their words.

Harassing measure

Here are some examples of harassing measures

• Discrediting the employee by making denigrating remarks asserted in a decisive tone.
• Incessant reproaches related to the employee’s professional incapacity and their inappropriate and undesirable presence.
• Separating the employee, taking away their keys, reducing their hourly rate without valid reason.

Degrading task

This involves forcing the employee to perform tasks below their qualification level, withholding a percentage of their pay without justification, and discrediting them with their colleagues.

Aggressiveness

Aggression is punishable by law. It is an action that shows the employer’s intent to reduce the employee’s scope of activity or to demote them without valid reason. The court has ruled that this constitutes workplace intimidation.

Task beyond their abilities

Forcing the employee to perform tasks beyond their abilities while risking their health is considered a form of moral harassment.

Being sidelined

Place the employee in a small area, without heating, with rudimentary tools and isolated from their colleagues. The employee is also prevented from resuming their duties following a transfer or forced to take leave to prevent them from returning to their position.

Racism and discrimination, deprivation of tools

Racist and discriminatory remarks and deprivation of office, computer, or tools following maternity leave, for example.

Unfounded warnings

The employee wrongfully receives several warnings whose origin is unfounded and the criticisms are not based on proven facts.

To obtain compensation and report the facts before a labor tribunal or confirm that harassment is occurring, it is enough to prove one of these facts that we have listed above.

Workplace harassment: how to prove it

As we have already said, harassment only occurs if it is repeated and various practices degrade the victim’s working conditions. So, if you think you are a victim of workplace harassment, here are some guidelines you should know.

Establishing a presumption of harassment

Please note that you must provide proof that you are indeed a victim of harassment. Indeed, the French court, once the employee reports a presumption of harassment against a harasser, requires the latter to prove otherwise. Otherwise, the court will impose sanctions on the harasser.

Record your conversations

In fact, the subject is somewhat sensitive because you must provide proof that your harasser is bothering you. However, recording conversations or any action will be considered a disloyal act, although necessary for establishing admissible evidence.

Thus, according to the court, recordings such as messages in a voicemail box, an email, a voice message on Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp are accepted. However, if you knowingly record your harasser during your harassment, you can report it to your colleagues, who can testify at the trial to the truthfulness of your statements about the harassment you suffered.

Provide testimonies from your colleagues

To avoid being harassed continuously, it is better to share with others and especially with your colleagues. They will be valuable assets as they can tell the union what happened, testify on your behalf before the labor council.

The occupational physician could also play an important role as they can presume cases of injury and psychological health impairment. So, if you share your experience with your doctor or colleagues, it will carry a bit more weight before a labor judge.

Gather all documents proving your situation

Written records are very important because you can sometimes print documents related to the events, such as text messages, emails that the harasser sent you. All written evidence must be preserved.

These items are accepted by the court because the court assumes that the offender will not be able to deny the practices and harassment recorded in these documents. Thus, when you experience bullying at work, gather evidence to demonstrate the harm.

Request the judge to grant a subpoena allowing you access to evidence documents

In the context of a court judgment regarding the harassment you suffered such as wrongful dismissal, removal of benefits, denigrated status, etc., you will need documents proving the truth of your claims such as the pay slip, the new employee status, etc.

Once before a judge, you can make a request for the judge to issue a verdict forcing the employer to provide you with the documents you need.

Call on a labor law attorney against moral harassment

Moral harassment is a crime punishable by law, so it is important to call on a labor law attorney. This attorney has the right to defend not only your rights but also to assist you in the steps to follow.

The employee turns to an attorney when they want to bring their harasser to justice and obtain an appropriate penalty that will resolve the matter. Indeed, turning to an attorney in a context of workplace harassment is important because it allows alerting the CHSCT and staff representatives.

The attorney then acts as a representative of the victim and can choose between two means: legally finding evidence and formalizing it civilly. You can also resort to a subpoena requesting the postponement of the search and the burden of proof on the harasser.

In case of moral harassment at work, the attorney has the right to seize a labor court to legally terminate the victim’s employment contract.

The attorney can also request the nullification of the company’s internal procedures that would have been abusive and considered harassment such as: wrongful dismissal, demotion, …

The presence of an attorney is also useful when the victim decides to file a complaint or bring the case to court to sanction the harasser.

Ultimately, the role of the attorney is very important when harassment and psychological violence can no longer be resolved amicably.

Moral harassment at work by a colleague

All workers must be able to feel comfortable in the workplace and work safely.

Indeed, if this is not your case and a colleague constantly harasses you, you have the right to report the facts to the responsible organization and file a complaint. To do this, you will need a labor lawyer to help you with the paperwork and legal procedures.

So, how do you file a complaint when you are constantly harassed?

Workplace harassment is strictly prohibited by law; however, the victim must prove that the harassment actually took place. It is therefore essential to gather several pieces of evidence proving that the harassment occurred, among these pieces of evidence are testimonies, videos, text messages, voice messages.

Also, if you have been a victim of harassment by a colleague, your duty is to inform your employer by certified letter.

The employer will be forced to rectify the situation by taking drastic measures or intervening outside the courts. However, if the case is not resolved after this action by the employer, the victim will resort to an economic and social commission and finally to a prudential opinion in the worst case. Moral harassment at work by my employer or my superior

Here is how you can remedy harassment by your supervisor or employer

If you are the employee and have been harassed by your employer or supervisor, you must collect evidence attesting to the nature and existence of the bullying. Faced with a harassing employer, the victim or employee has the right to resort to friendly mediation or to file a complaint for moral harassment.

On the other hand, the mediator is chosen based on the agreement between the two parties, their role is then to advise and conciliate in writing proposals aimed at ending the harassment. In case of failure of amicable conciliation or failure, the mediator will inform each party of the related sanctions and the procedures to be followed thereafter.

If negotiations do not lead to a resolution, labor court advice should be used. Referring the labor court in case of harassment by a superior will result in the cessation of actions and compensation for the damage suffered by the victim.

If you have been harassed by your employer, you can decide to pursue criminal proceedings.

However, try to do so within a maximum period of 3 years after the events to constitute a civil party. In case of filing a complaint without follow-up, you must resort to a direct complaint with the constitution of a civil party. You will have the opportunity to testify before a criminal judge who will decide the outcome of the case.

Sick leave for moral harassment at work

You can very well consult your general practitioner or the occupational medicine who will recognize your occupational disease following moral harassment. The sick leave will then be pronounced by the occupational physician, who will indicate temporary disability. The role of occupational medicine is to relieve the employee from their position to avoid harming their health and moral integrity.

Before being able to take leave from work due to psychological harassment, the victim must call a doctor to confirm that they have suffered, the place and date of the harassment incident. The doctor can also receive testimonies from other employees who attest to the moral suffering endured by the victim in front of their harasser.

In cases of significant harassment affecting physical and moral integrity and not coinciding with an occupational disease, the occupational physician will advise the employee to use the CRRMP or the Regional Committee for the Recognition of Occupational Diseases.

After a sick leave due to harassment, here is what happens before returning to work:

• Establishment of the state of health problems and possible harassment.
• Treatment of various disorders such as depression resulting from bullying.
• The occupational physician conducts a check and proposes a change of position at the time of resumption.
• Recurring consultation adapted to each victim of harassment to cope with suffering at work.