Moral harassing at work

Moral harassing at work was defined as a set of intrigues repeated which have for object or effect degradation of the work conditions likely to attack the rights of paid and with its dignity, to deteriorate its physical or mental health or to compromise its professional future (law n° 2002-73 of social Modernization of January 17th, 2002).

Moral harassing, also indicated under the term of psycho terror or “mobbing”, is a process of destruction. It is made up hostile intrigues which, taken separately, could seem pain-killers, but of which the constant repetition has harmful effects on dignity and the psychic integrity of a person. These intrigues are prohibited that they are exerted by your employer, a hierarchically superior or between colleagues.

It can appear in various forms, energy of the refusal of the communication to the threats, while passing by the “setting with the wall cupboard”, the absence of instructions or the degrading work conditions. In fact also acts unjustified, repetitive, giving the impression to be deliberated are made against a worker.

Other signs of moral harassing
- a demonstration of hostility, violence or brutality which can be verbal, physical or behavioural;
- a setting under pressure which can take the form of an exaggerated monitoring of its work, controls phone conversations by amplifier or listening, control of the duration of the pauses, obligation to leave the open door of the office… ;
- criticisms ceaseless, bullying, humiliations; one ridicules the person, one discredits his work, one makes fun of it;
- the insulation of the person. One does not say to him any more nor hello, goodbye or thank you. One does not invite it any more to the meetings, one does not listen to him/her when he/she speaks, one addresses him/her as "tu" without reciprocity;
- the deprivation or extra work of work;
- libellous remarks public insults, insults…
These intrigues can assign the person seriously and to have important effects on its physical and psychological health.
The anxiety, the nervousness, irritability, arterial hypertension, the sleep disorders, the increase in catch of drugs are the precursory signs. The consequences for the victims are psychosomatic disorders, even depressions being able to go until the suicide. An absence of support or recognition, the hierarchy or colleagues, is one of the worsening factors of the effects of moral harassing to work. No employee must be sanctioned to have testified or to have reported intrigues of the harasser.

Moral harassing can be purely free or the consequence of a conflict situation or an implementation to push the employee with the resignation and to thus ensure the employer a rupture of the contract without expenses.
It is up to the employer to take all the necessary measures in order to prevent the intrigues constitutive of moral harassing.
Who are the victims?
There is no standard profile. The victims are not inevitably people weak or fragile, they are often people who have a provision to feel guilty or then which has what the harasser does not have and who it wishes. Nobody is safe from a harassing in his company.

Who harasses ?
Moral harassing is practiced:
- between colleagues of the same hierarchical level,
- between superior hierarchic and subordinated,
- between subordinated and hierarchically superior.
It happens that a collective of work or that a group inside the company isolates a colleague and makes a “scapegoat of it”.

What is the personality of the harasser?
The harasser has an obsessional personality, perverse narcissistic or carrying a pathology of the character. He is intentional, aims to humiliate, destroy the other and to develop his social or personal capacity. He has a very strong need for domination and influence. It should lower the others to acquire a good regard of them. It has neither compassion, nor respect for the others, it thinks of being special and single.

What are the remedies ?
The employee who estimates victim of moral harassing must constitute a file which will show, point by point, the pressures that it undergoes, using mails, emails, of memorandums, of received SMS, testimonies of colleagues… He may find it very beneficial to consign the precise and detailed report in writing facts constitutive of harassing.
The victim should not remain isolated but alert his/her colleagues, the direction of human resources, the superior of the attacker, the company doctor, his attending physician, the union delegates, the factory inspectorate, an defence association of the rights of the people victims of discriminations… The support of a lawyer is also important.
Employees, victims or witnesses of moral harassing, have recourse in front of the court of arbitration to put an end to these intrigues and to ask for compensation for damage undergone.
The representative trade-union organizations in the company can exert, in favour of the employee concerned, all the consecutive legal actions with facts of moral harassing, subject justifying, with this intention, of the agreement of paid (Article L.122-53).

Procedure of mediation
The employee or the person blamed can initiate a procedure of mediation. The choice of the mediator is the subject of an agreement between the parts, it is selected apart from the company on a list of personalities indicated according to their moral authority and their competence in the prevention of moral harassing. The mediator tries to reconcile them and submits proposals written to them in order to put an end to harassing. In the event of failure of the conciliation, it informs the parts of the possible incurred sanctions and the procedural guarantees envisaged in favour of the victim.

Sanctions incurred in the event of moral harassing
Any employee having proceeded to intrigues of moral harassing is liable to disciplinary actions.
Moral harassing is a penal and punishable offence by a sorrow of one year imprisonment and a fine of 15.000 euros (Article L.222-33-2 of the Penal code). If the complaint succeeds, the victim will be able to obtain the judgment of its harasser and the payment of damages.

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