Mobbing at work - although it has existed as a phenomenon almost always, it has only been talked about loudly for several years. Employees do not know where to report mobbing at work and how to prove that it occurred. They wonder where the boundary is when working relationships become unethical and harmful. Find out when we deal with mobbing at work and how to protect against it.

Mobbing at workis primarily the use of psychological terror, physical violence is a very extreme version of persecution. The term "mobbing at work" is closely related to the place of employment and means harassment of an employee.

Contents:

  1. Mobbing at work: what is it?
  2. Mobbing at work: types
  3. Mobbing at work and law in Poland
  4. Mobbing at work: how to prove?
  5. Mobbing at work: where to report?
  6. Mobbing at work: where can you get help?
  7. Mobbing at work: what behaviors are not?

Mobbing at work: what is it?

Mobbing at work is most common when an employee is harassed, harassed, intimidated, humiliated, unfairly treated, ridiculed, and even isolated by their supervisor or other employees or an employee.

Such behavior, full of hostile and unethical attitude, is a tool for putting pressure on the employee. For what purpose? The motivation of people who mobbing at work can vary - from forcing an employee to be more efficient, to forcing him to be submissive or isolating him from other employees. All this, however, has its source most often in a conflict with the employee who is harassed later.

Mobbing is a word derived from the English language (mob - piston, crowds).

Mobbing at work: types

Characteristic for mobbing at work is that actions to the detriment of the employee last a long time and are repeated. Moreover, the victim of mobbing is usually helpless and unable to oppose the mobber, which makes the mobber feel stronger and go unpunished, which only strengthens him in his unethical activities.

Mobbing at work takes various forms, therefore its types can be distinguished. They are:

  • Humiliation- the employee is criticized (also for his appearance), defamed, ridiculed, causes jokes, shows offensive gestures, is humiliated.
  • Intimidation- threats of dismissal, prohibition of taking breaks, threats of other consequences, vulgar speech to the employee, forcing the employee to work overtime, threats and threats.
  • Isolation- conspiracy in a group against one employee, slandering him, insinuating situations harmful to the employee, arousing aversion to the employee in others, spreading harmful rumors, avoiding the employee, not taking him taken into account in joint corporate activities.
  • Making work difficult- special disturbance at work, blocking access to data, receiving previously commissioned tasks, assigning tasks exceeding the employee's capabilities, harming the employee, reducing competences, limiting the employee's rights .
  • Harassment- harassment of an employee also after working hours, frequent phone calls, text messages, e-mails.
  • Action harmful to he alth- forcing an employee to perform hazardous and risky work, breaking he alth and safety regulations.

Mobbing at work should not be confused with employee discrimination (unequal treatment towards the rest of employees) or sexual harassment. Acts of physical violence also extend beyond the limits of mobbing.

Important

Mobbing at work and the law in Poland

The phenomenon of mobbing was not included in the Labor Code until November 14, 2003, but the constitutive law did not enter into force until the beginning of 2004.Pursuant to article 94 (3), paragraph 2 Of the Labor Code, mobbing has been defined as " actions or behaviors concerning the employee or directed against the employee consisting in persistent and long-term harassment or intimidation of the employee, causing him to underestimate his professional suitability, causing or aimed at humiliating or ridiculing the employee. , isolating or eliminating employees from the team. " Pursuant to this provision, mobbing at work may only be referred to persons employed under an employment contract. The provision on the persistence and duration of actions means that we cannot talk about mobbing in incidental situations (one-off acts of intimidation require the application of the provisions on the protection of personal rights). For this to be considered mobbing, the harassment should last a minimum of six months and should occur at least once a week. Only then does the said provision in the labor code apply.

Article 94 (3) of the Labor CodeMoreover, it defines the obligations of the employer in the scope of counteracting mobbing at work.It is the employer, according to the law, who is responsible for the mobbing that has occurred, without being able to protect his employees from it. The employer is also responsible for mobbing committed not only by employees and associates, but also contractors or the employer's family. The employer's liability is criminal. In the event that mobbing causes deterioration of the employee's he alth, the employee may demand financial compensation or compensation. If the employee was forced to resign from work by mobbing, the employer must also pay him compensation (the equivalent of at least one salary).

It is the employee's duty, however, to first prove the existence of mobbing . Pursuant to Art. 55 KP, the harassed employee has the right to terminate the employment contract with immediate effect (without notice) if the employer was unable to prevent mobbing. In addition to the Labor Code, the issue of protection of personal rights is also discussed in the Civil Code. Articles 445 and 446 regulate the right of an employee to demand pecuniary compensation for harm suffered at work and compensation for property damage, if it occurred in violation of personal rights.

If mobbing is proven, the employer may also be penalized.With regard to mobbing, he may be accused, for example, of persuading the employee to take his life - art. 151, causing serious damage to he alth - art. 156, deterioration of he alth - art. 157, threats - art. 190, use of violence against an employee - art. 191, physical or mental abuse - art. 207, libel - Article 212, insult - Article 216, violation of bodily inviolability - Art. 217, violation of employee rights - art. 218, error in registering the employee for insurance - art. 219, failure to comply with he alth and safety obligations - art. 267 and 283, disinformation - art. 268, misrepresentation - art. 107.

Mobbing at work: how to prove?

How to prove mobbing at work? This is not easy. There are fine lines between the acceptable forms of employee punishment (e.g. disciplinary or order pen alties) or normal enforcement of work (e.g. the need to stay after hours) and mobbing.

Therefore, if there is a suspicion that mobbing is taking place in the workplace, the only institution that can absolutely determine it is the competent district court. However, the most important thing is collecting evidence of being a victim of mobbing. This will be the key evidence in the case against the employer.

Collecting incriminating materials should start on the samethe beginning of the harassment. First of all, you should keep a notebook in which you should record all acts of mobbing at work (their course and circumstances), with the exact date, time, place and listing of mobbers and witnesses of the situation.

The second thing is collecting direct evidence, i.e. letters, e-mails, text messages, which would bear the hallmarks of harassment. The evidence can also be hidden videos or tapes from wiretapping.

If the harassed employee suffered a he alth impairment as a result of mobbing, he should collect all documents that confirm it, e.g. sick leave, test descriptions, diagnoses.

In situations where there is a suspicion that an attack will occur, it is good to have witnesses and, for example, open the door to the room so that the situation is heard by others or even avoid meetings with the mobber alone.

Witnesses in a case of mobbing at work may also be former employees of the company - these usually more willingly agree to cooperate and testify in court than current employees, at risk of losing their job. You should also talk about your situation with loved ones so that more people are aware of the harassment and can confirm the victim's words in court.

This will be useful to you

Mobbing at work: where to report?

Where to report mobbing at work? If the persecutor is a supervisor or a colleague, you can report it to the company manager (employer) himself. It is his duty to protect employees from mobbing, so he can take the first steps to resolve the problem.

The employee (even anonymously) may also report the mobbing case to the National Labor Inspectorate, which will inspect the workplace and, as a result of revealing the violation of employees' rights, will impose appropriate pen alties on the employer, and the inspection report will be strong evidence in court if the employee is e.g. claim compensation.

At the same time, the employee may terminate the employment contract without notice on the grounds that the employer does not respect personal rights and dignity. The final step is to take the mobbing case to court.

Mobbing at work: where can you get help?

It is worth adding that people who experience mobbing at work are also helped by special associations operating throughout Poland. These include:

1. National Anti-mobbing Association

ul. Ołbińska 18/5

50-237 Wrocław

tel .: 606 371 919

2. Krakow Branch of the National Anti-mobbing Association

ul. Kopernika 26

31-501 Krakow

tel .: (012) 6293 322

e-mail: [email protected]

3. Łódź Branch of the National Anti-mobbing Association

ul. Spinning 127/40

93-286 Łódź

tel .: 605 405 771

e-mail: [email protected]

4. Consultation point of the National Anti-mobbing Association in Gdańsk

e-mail: [email protected]

5. Anti-mobbing Association for them. Barbara Grabowska

ul. Miszewskiego 17, office 303/304

80-239 Gdańsk

tel .: 516 352 044

e-mail: [email protected]

6. Branch of the Antimobbing Association Barbara Grabowska in Poznań

ul. Mickiewicza 32/2

60-836 Poznań

7. Kuyavian-Pomeranian Branch of the Antimobbing Association for them. Barbara Grabowska in Bydgoszcz

ul. Kapuściska 10

85-807 Bydgoszcz

tel .: 600-423-868

e-mail: [email protected]

8. Branch of the Antimobbing Association Barbara Grabowska in Warsaw

ul. Lechicka 1/48

02-156 Warsaw

phone: 22 302 9001

9. Polish National Anti-mobbing Association OSA

ul. Warzywnicza 10C / 7

80-838 Gdańsk

phone: (058) 301 98 72, mobile: 795 159 795

e-mail: osa _ [email protected]

10. Ombudsman

Office of the Ombudsman

ul. Aleja Solidarności 77

00-090 Warszawa

e-mail: [email protected]

Mobbing at work causes serious he alth effects

Fighting mobbing is necessary to maintain he alth - including mental he alth. The longer the harassment at work lasts, the more severe the mental consequences it causes. The effects of mobbing can leave a mark on life. The most common symptoms of a harassed employee include: stress and related feelings - fear, anxiety, tension.

Psychosomatic symptoms, sleep and eating disorders may occur at the same time. A victim of mobbing at work usually loses faith in their abilities, has low self-esteem, does not trust others, loses motivation to work. If mobbing is prolonged and the employee has a weak psyche, it may lead to the so-called posttraumatic stress, depression or even push such a person to suicide.

Stress caused by mobbing at work may also affect the relatives of the victim. Tension from work is often transferred to the family, it leads to outbreaks of aggression and causes breakups. Victims of mobbing often need psychological help. Even if they are freed from mobbing, a return to good mental form may be long,therefore it is worth going to a psychologist after such experiences and regaining mental he alth thanks to specialist treatment.

Worth knowing

Mobbing at work: what behaviors are not?

It is worth knowing that the following are not considered mobbing at work:

  • internal discomfort experienced by the employee, regardless of external factors;
  • profanity and uncultured criticism of a specific employee's work, if the supervisor's statement is substantive and relates only to the way the work is performed;
  • justified criticism expressed by the supervisor;
  • open conflicts in the workplace, during which there is an equality of subjects (without the victim syndrome);
  • nervous work atmosphere, e.g. related to the performance of extremely important or urgent tasks;
  • settlement of the employee on the assigned tasks.

Category:

Psychology