WORK PLACE THROUGH
WORK PLACE THROUGH
Pursuant to Bulgarian law, "harassment" means any unwanted behavior based on sex, race, nationality, ethnicity, human genome, nationality, origin, religion or belief, education, belief, political affiliation, personal or social status, , age, sexual orientation, marital status, property status or any other features established by law or by an international treaty to which the Republic of Bulgaria is a party, expressed physically, verbally or otherwise a manner that has the purpose or effect of damaging the dignity of the person and creating a hostile, degrading, humiliating, offensive or threatening environment.
Violence is any case where a person feels threatened or threatened during or in connection with the performance of his / her duties. Violence in the workplace is considered to be insult and physical harassment. For harassment, it is necessary to have one person's behavior in the form of an act or omission, which is undesirable for others. person to whom it is directed. Unwanted behavior that creates psychologically negative feelings, emotions and experiences The presence of dishonorable disorder has the effect of damaging the dignity and honor of the discriminated person as well as the creation of hostile, abusive, degrading and threatening work environments. Harassment can be vertical (from manager to employee) and horizontal (between employees themselves).
According to the Bulgarian legislation, in the existence of an employment relationship, the employer, exercising his employer's authority, is obliged not to perform or to allow discrimination against the employees of his enterprise. In Art. 127, para. 2 of the Labor Code provides for the statutory requirement to protect the dignity of the employee during the performance of the employment relationship. From Art. 8, para. 3 of the Labor Code and Art. 13 et seq. Of the Protection against Discrimination Act comes from its obligation not to carry out and to prevent acts of discrimination against the employees of the enterprise.
In order to protect an employee from harassment at a workplace, he or she must report or complain about it in a personal capacity. The law indicates as the addressee of the complaint the employer as a party to an individual employment relationship. It is up to him, not the direct manager, to reach the statement of the worker concerned. Upon receipt of the signal or complaint, the employer has three main legal obligations: 1) to immediately check the circumstances of the specific complaint; 2) taking measures to stop harassment; 3) initiating a procedure for disciplinary liability towards the guilty employee.
The employer has an obligation to take effective measures to prevent a new act of harassment. When an act of discrimination is detected by a worker against another worker, he has the right to exercise disciplinary authority by imposing disciplinary punishment and to file a written warning to the Commission for Protection against Discrimination, which may institute administrative penal proceedings and, if it finds a violation, by a criminal decree to impose an administrative fine on the guilty employee.
Legal regulation prohibiting workplace harassment as a form of labor discrimination is also present in the national legislations of the majority of EU member states. In view of the large number of Bulgarians living and working in the UK, an example of this is the Bullying Protection Act, adopted in 1997. It provides legal protection for persons who are subjected to harassment on the basis of their racial affiliation. Under this law, perpetrators of a crime intended to induce others to fear for their security may be punished by imprisonment of up to 5 years and / or be fined without a limited amount. That law stipulates that even in cases where harassment has not caused fear, the offender may be punished by imprisonment of up to 6 months and / or a fine of up to 5,000 pounds.
Attorney at law Iuila Danova
#3, Dobrotica Str., Varna, Bulgaria
Mob: +359 895 64 59 40
WWW: advokatvarna.com
Email: iulia.danova@abv.bg