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Violence and harassment

Violence and harassment at the workplace are becoming increasingly significant issues in the EU public arena. The Fourth European working conditions survey identifies the extent of the problem throughout Europe, as of 2005. Around 5% of workers report that they have experienced violence, bullying or harassment at work (see Chapter 4: 'Violence, harassment and discrimination in the workplace' of the EWCS 2005 report [pdf 311 kb]).

In 2002, the Foundation conducted a comparative analysis to map the patterns and trends of harassment and violence at work in the European Union and to clarify the concepts involved. The report, Preventing violence and harassment in the workplace, analyses how the concepts of violence, harassment and bullying / mobbing have evolved with regard to the working environment and identifies some of the differences in cultural perspective that ground an understanding of these issues. It also surveys the variety of regulatory instruments as well as non-legislative measures that have emerged to combat the problem at national and EU level, as well as positive examples of preventative good practice.

Events:

The first EWCO seminar took place in December 2003. It focused on the issue of violence and harassment in the workplace. Conference summary available to download.

A European conference, Preventing violence and harassment in the workplace took place in April 2003. The speeches from speakers Elizabeth Bukspan and Olgierd Kuty are available in French for download (Word doc format).