Parliament adopted the draft law on preventing and combating harassment at work, the Ministry of Labor announced on Tuesday. The concepts of “violence and harassment” have been redefined, says the Minister of Labour, Simona Bucura Oprescu.
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It is about the law ratifying Convention no. 190/2019 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work.
“The project was initiated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity. This vote given before March 8 has a special meaning. The new law comes to protect employees from workplace abuse, regardless of whether they are men or women. The concepts of “violence and harassment” have been redefined according to technological developments and now cover, among others, physical abuse, verbal abuse, harassment, mobbing, sexual harassment, threats and stalking/surveillance. In addition, the place where such abuse can occur is no longer limited only in the service space, but also in delegations, team-buildings, during transport and even in online communications”, said Simona Bucura Oprescu, Minister of Labor and Social Solidarity.
The ratification of the ILO Convention brings more clarity to national legislation and brings together legal norms that were found in several normative acts that were sometimes difficult to apply, according to a statement sent by the Ministry of Labour.
The new legal framework protects both employees and people who are on probation, apprenticeship, practice, volunteering or are former employees.
The ILO Convention improves the current legal framework regarding:
– health and safety at Work;
– ensuring the inspection and investigation of cases of violence and harassment;
– justice (criminal investigation, legal assistance);
– the issue of gender and discrimination;
– public health (supervision of the provision of medical care and psychological counseling);
– social protection (accommodation of victims in shelters, integration of victims into the labor market, etc.).
