Harassment

Harassment At Workplace:

Harassment and Sexual Harassment can be broadly defined as any form of unwelcome conduct that may be deemed as humiliating, intimidating or offensive. Different forms of harassment and violence can affect workplaces.

They can:

• be physical, psychological and/or sexual,
• be one off incidents or more systematic patterns of behaviour,
• be amongst colleagues, between superiors and subordinates or by third parties such as clients, customers, patients or pupils, etc.
• range from minor cases of disrespect to more serious acts, including criminal offences, which require the intervention of public authorities.

EU and national law define the employers’ duty to protect workers against harassment and violence in the workplace. In Malta, besides amounting to unethical behaviour, harassment and sexual harassment are unlawful and also constitute criminal offences, punishable with both a fine and/or imprisonment. Moreover, employers and persons responsible for educational establishments have a legal responsibility to prevent harassment and sexual harassment.

In the framework agreement on Harassment and Violence at Work, signed on the 26 April 2007, BUSINESSEUROPE ( which includes the Malta Federation of Industry as one of its members), UEAPME (the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), CEEP (the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest) and ETUC (the European Trade Union Confederation), condemn harassment and violence in all their forms and declare that ‘ They consider it is a mutual concern of employers and workers to deal with this issue, which can have serious social and economic consequences.’

This framework agreement further binds European enterprises, whether large, medium or small, to implement measures aimed at preventing, identifying and managing problems of Harassment and Violence at the place of work.

Human resources managers are new faced with the challenge of managing these complex and often delicate scenarios.

Weave Consulting offers tailor-made services designed at assisting organisations to prevent harassment and sexual harassment and to manage such cases when they do arise. By making use of our services, based on a wealth of experience and expertise in working with such issues, an organisation does not only minimise the chances of being held legally liable, but also mitigates the potential economic consequences which may arise when not addressing such issues.

Preventing harassment and sexual harassment thus benefits an organisation since it is crucial in maintaining its reputation as a good employer and as an ethical economic player, and by protecting the well-being of its people, thus ensuring that productivity is not hindered.