Reporting workplace bullying or sexual harassment to the Labour Inspectorate

Workplace bullying or mobbing is repeated harassment that violates a worker's dignity: humiliation, insults, isolation, stripping of duties, unjustified overload or constant criticism in front of others. It can be vertical (from a superior), horizontal (between colleagues) or even upward. Article 4.2.e of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores (the Spanish Workers' Statute) recognises your right to respect for your dignity and protection against harassment.

Sexual harassment is, according to article 7 of Ley Orgánica 3/2007 (the Spanish Equality Act), any verbal or physical behaviour of a sexual nature that violates a person's dignity, particularly when it creates an intimidating, degrading or offensive environment. It includes both sexual blackmail (conditioning a right or work expectation on acceptance) and environmental harassment. Harassment on the grounds of sex is behaviour carried out based on a person's sex with the purpose or effect of violating their dignity: it is common in situations of pregnancy, maternity or returning to work after sick leave.

For the company, these behaviours are very serious administrative infringements under the LISOS (the Spanish Law on Social Infringements and Penalties): sexual harassment is penalised under article 8.13 (regardless of who harasses, if it occurs within the company's management scope); harassment on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation or identity, racial or ethnic origin, religion, disability or age, under article 8.13 bis (when the company knows about it and takes no action); and moral harassment without a discriminatory component is penalised as an act contrary to the worker's dignity (article 8.11).

There are 3 channels: the electronic headquarters of the Ministry of Labour (procedure for submitting reports to the ITSS, using a digital certificate, electronic ID or Cl@ve, the Spanish electronic identification system), the in-person registry addressed to the Provincial Labour and Social Security Inspectorate of the province where the events occur, or administrative mail. The report is free: there is no tasa (official fee).

The content is established in article 20.4 of Ley 23/2015: your identification details and signature, the facts allegedly constituting an infringement, the date and place they occurred, the identification of the alleged perpetrators and other relevant circumstances. It is advisable to attach available evidence: messages, emails, medical reports and witness identification.

Anonymous reports are not processed (article 20.5 of Ley 23/2015), nor are those with identification defects. The infringement expires 3 years after the events (article 4 LISOS), but the sooner it is reported, the easier it is for the inspector to verify the situation. Managora drafts the report with the correct legal framework (ET, LISOS, LO 3/2007) and submits it for you; as it is a custom document, we will provide you with a quote after reviewing your case.

The law protects your identity: inspectors have a duty of secrecy and must consider the origin of any complaint or report confidential (article 10.2 of Ley 23/2015). The Inspectorate does not inform the company who has reported them, and the visit can be presented as a routine inspection.

Keep in mind a practical limit: if the reported facts only affect you, the company may deduce the origin. For this scenario, there is a guarantee of indemnity: any retaliation for having reported (dismissal, penalty, transfer, adverse treatment) is discriminatory (article 9 LO 3/2007), constitutes a very serious infringement in itself (article 8.12 LISOS) and a retaliatory dismissal is declared null and void, with mandatory reinstatement and payment of lost wages.

The inspector can appear at the workplace without prior notice, request documentation (anti-harassment protocol, equality plan, psychosocial risk assessment, applied disciplinary regime) and interview the victim, witnesses, alleged harasser and management separately.

The action can end in several ways: a requirement for the company to correct the situation and activate or implement the protocol; an infringement report proposing a fine (from €7,501 to €225,018 for a very serious infringement); or closure if no evidence is found. If they detect facts that could be a crime, the Inspectorate forwards them to the Public Prosecutor's Office. Companies penalised for discriminatory harassment can also lose grants and bonuses from employment programmes (article 46 bis LISOS).

As the reporting party, you have the right to be informed of the result when the investigation affects your rights, and you acquire the status of an interested party if the penalty procedure is initiated. There is no committed public timeframe for the checks to start: it depends on the workload of each Provincial Inspectorate. What the law does set is a limit: verification actions cannot last more than 9 months, except for a regulated extension (article 21.4 of Ley 23/2015).

Internal procedure: every company must have measures and a specific procedure against sexual harassment and harassment on the grounds of sex (article 48 LO 3/2007), and those with 50 or more employees must have an equality plan (RD 901/2020). Activating the internal protocol is recommended, but it is not a requirement to report to the ITSS: you can go to the Inspectorate directly, and the absence of a protocol is reportable in itself.

Compensated termination under article 50 ET: if the harassment involves a serious breach by the company, you can ask the social court to terminate the contract with unfair dismissal compensation. Generally, this is 33 days of salary per year worked with a cap of 24 monthly payments, although periods of service prior to 12 February 2012 are calculated at 45 days per year with a cap of 42 monthly payments (eleventh transitional provision of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores). It also gives access to unemployment benefits and is compatible with additional compensation for moral damages in a claim for the protection of fundamental rights.

Criminal route, for serious cases: sexual harassment is a crime under article 184 of the Código Penal (the Spanish Criminal Code), which after LO 10/2022 punishes the basic offence with prison or a fine and, jointly, with special disqualification from exercising a profession, trade or activity for 12 to 15 months, with higher penalties if there is an abuse of superiority or threats of retaliation. Serious workplace bullying with repeated humiliation taking advantage of superiority fits into article 173.1. All routes are compatible and are usually combined: the Inspectorate's file later serves as evidence in court. Managora guides you on the joint strategy when preparing your report.

Keep a diary of events with the date, time, place, what happened and who was present. Keep emails, WhatsApp messages, screenshots and audio recordings of conversations in which you participate. Keep sick leave notes and medical reports linking your condition (anxiety, insomnia) to work, and internal communications: the complaint to the protocol, letters to human resources, the replies received. Identify witnesses, even if they do not want to testify initially.

You do not need full proof to report: serious indications are enough for the Inspectorate to investigate, and in matters of discrimination and harassment, the reversal of the burden of proof applies, so once indications are provided, it is up to the company to justify its actions (article 13 LO 3/2007 and article 96 of the Ley Reguladora de la Jurisdicción Social, the Spanish Law Regulating Social Jurisdiction).

Managora prepares and submits your report to the Labour Inspectorate, whether for workplace bullying or mobbing, sexual harassment or harassment on the grounds of sex, with the correct legal classification and your evidence organised. You tell us your case, we draft and submit it. It is custom work: we review your documentation and provide a quote before starting.