The employer is responsible for ensuring a safe and secure work environment for the employee, for preventing and dealing with discrimination and victimisation that may occur at work.
What is victimisation?
Victimisation means acts directed at one or more employees in an offensive manner. The actions can lead to ill health of employees and that they are left outside of the work community. These actions can be spreading rumors, bullying, derogatory words, discrimination, being ignored or ostracized by a group of colleagues. The reasons why victimisation occurs at work are usually due to deficiencies in the work environment.
The employee's right to damages
According to the Swedish Discrimination Act, you have the right to receive damages from your employer if you are subjected to abusive discrimination/victimisation. The amount of damages amounts to approximately 50,000 SEK according to current practice. If the employer does not fulfill its obligations to investigate and remedy the situation, an amount of damages must be paid to the affected employee. If you have been subjected to abusive discrimination, you should first notify your employer.
The employer's responsibility to prevent victimisation
The employer is obliged to prevent employees from being exposed to any form of bullying, expulsion or other type of abusive discrimination at work. The reason for this is that the employer has an obligation to prevent ill health and accidents at work.
The employer is also responsible for informing in a work environment policy that victimisation is not accepted and how a report should be made. The policy must be known and available to all employees in the company. The employer is obliged to have routines for receiving such reports.
When the employer becomes aware that an employee feels exposed to victimisation, an investigation must be carried out urgently. The investigation aims for the employer to investigate and remedy the problem and follow up working conditions and the working environment.
If you feel that you have been subjected to victimisation and want to know what your rights are, you are welcome to contact us for a free consultation.
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