An anti-harassment protocol is the written procedure that says how the employer prevents harassment and what it does when someone complains. This lesson explains its usual parts.
What it is for
- Making clear that the employer does not tolerate harassment.
- Giving everyone a safe and known route to ask for help.
- Resolving cases with speed, respect and guarantees for all parties.
Ley Orgánica 3/2007 (article 48) requires employers to promote working conditions that prevent harassment, and Ley Orgánica 10/2022 (article 12) requires them to put in place specific procedures to prevent it and to channel complaints. Measures such as protocols are negotiated with the workers' representatives. For employers with more than 50 workers, Ley 4/2023 and Real Decreto 1026/2024 also require a protocol on harassment and violence against LGBTI people.
What it usually includes
- Statement of principles: a commitment to prevent harassment and not to tolerate it.
- Scope: who it applies to. Under Ley Orgánica 10/2022, the measures benefit the whole workforce, whatever their contract (permanent-discontinuous, temporary or work placement), and may also benefit trainees, volunteers and people placed by temporary work agencies. Customers and suppliers are often included.
- Definitions and examples of conduct.
- Prevention measures: training, information, risk assessment, codes of conduct.
- Procedure for submitting and resolving complaints.
- The disciplinary regime that applies.
- Monitoring and review of the protocol.
Principles of the procedure
- Speed: short, clear deadlines.
- Confidentiality: only the people who are essential know about the case, and they must keep it secret.
- Respect and privacy: all parties are treated with dignity.
- Protection of the victim: they must not suffer further harm for reporting.
- Right to be heard (contradicción): the person accused is also heard and can defend themselves.
- Prohibition of reprisals: nobody can be harmed for complaining, reporting or giving evidence as a witness.
- Impartiality: whoever investigates the case cannot have a conflict of interest.
The usual stages
- Complaint: it is submitted in writing or verbally to the person or body the protocol designates. It can be submitted by the person affected and, in some protocols, by a witness or by the workers' representatives, with the victim's informed consent.
- Interim measures: if needed, a post, shift or place is changed to separate the people, without harming the victim.
- Investigation: a committee or an investigator hears the parties and the witnesses and gathers evidence.
- Report: it concludes whether there are signs of harassment or not and proposes measures.
- Decision: if there is evidence, the employer opens disciplinary proceedings and adopts corrective measures. If not, the case is closed.
- Follow-up: it is checked that the harassment stops and that there are no reprisals.
Reporting channel
Ley 2/2023, on the protection of people who report infringements, requires employers with 50 or more workers to have an internal reporting system. It can be used to report certain infringements. A harassment protocol usually has its own channel; what matters is that it is accessible and confidential and that the person reporting is protected.
Who acts
- The investigating committee or the designated person.
- The workers' representatives, who take part in negotiating the protocol and can accompany you.
- The occupational risk prevention service, when there is psychosocial harm.
- Management, which decides the measures and the penalties.
Limits
- Having a protocol is not enough: it must be made known, applied and reviewed.
- An employer that knows of a case and does not act can be penalised.
- A protocol does not prevent you from going to the Labour Inspectorate or the courts.