This last lesson brings together what you can do if you suffer or witness discrimination or harassment, and the routes for making a claim.
If it happens to you
- Make yourself safe. If there is immediate danger, ask for help from whoever is nearby. In the case of a crime or an assault, call 112.
- Keep evidence. Screenshots, emails, voice messages, dates, places, witnesses' names. Keep a diary of what happens and when.
- Do not confront it alone, if you do not want to. You can say clearly "this bothers me, stop" (you are not required to do so for it to count as harassment).
- Ask for help. Go to the person designated in the protocol, to human resources, to the workers' representatives or to the prevention service.
- Look after your health. Your family doctor or the mutua (the insurer that covers accidents at work and occupational illness) can assess the harm. A psychologist or a support service can also help.
If you witness it
- Intervene safely: interrupt, distract or accompany the person.
- Offer help afterwards, without pressure.
- Report through the appropriate channel. In many protocols a witness can do so, with the victim's consent.
- Do not share the case with third parties or comment on it on social media: confidentiality protects everyone.
If you are a manager
- If someone tells you about a case, do not play it down or let it pass: the employer has a duty to act once it knows.
- Refer the case to the protocol's channel and protect the person affected.
- Do not take employment decisions against someone who complains: that would be a reprisal.
Routes for making a claim
- Within the company: the protocol and the workers' representatives.
- Labour and Social Security Inspectorate (Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social): receives reports of discrimination, harassment or psychosocial risks. It can investigate, serve requirements on the employer and propose penalties. Anyone can file a report; see the Inspectorate's website to find out how.
- Labour court (juzgado de lo social): to claim, for example, that a decision is void, compensation, or termination of the contract for the employer's serious breach (article 50 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores). There is a special procedure for the protection of fundamental rights (Ley 36/2011).
- Criminal route: if there is a crime (for example, sexual harassment or assault), you can report it to the Police, the Guardia Civil or the court.
- Equality bodies and trade unions: they offer information and advice.
Seek advice from a trade union or a lawyer, because the time limits for making a claim can be short.
Your rights when you report
- Prohibition of reprisals: employer decisions that harm someone who claims equality are void (Estatuto de los Trabajadores, article 17.1; Equality Act, article 9).
- Confidentiality during the procedure.
- Reversal of the burden of proof if there are signs of discrimination.
- Presumption of good faith: reporting in good faith is not an offence even if it cannot be proved. A knowingly false report, however, can have consequences.
What the employer must keep doing
Have and apply its own protocol, negotiate the equality plan if it applies, keep the pay register, train its workforce and investigate every complaint with guarantees. This course is general training and does not replace any of that, and its certificate does not by itself show that the employer complies with the law.
Summary
- Recognise harassment and discrimination.
- Keep evidence.
- Use the protocol and ask for help.
- Remember that reprisals are prohibited.