The Development of Moral Harassment (or Mobbing) Law in Sweden and France as a Step Towards EU Legislation

Abstract

Moral harassment (or mobbing) is one of the most rapidly emerging workplace violence complaints, affecting around twelve million workers in the EU annually. In 1993, Sweden was the first EU country to enact legislation against moral harassment with its Ordinance on Victimization at Work. Through the Social Modernization Law in 2002, France added both civil and criminal provisions condemning moral harassment. This Note explores the Swedish and French laws and the psychological theories by Heinz Leymann and Marie-France Hirigoyen, respectively, that preceded them. Since existing EU legislation is inadequate in covering moral harassment, a new directive should be adopted. This new directive could be modeled off of several exemplary existing directiYes and should consider various proYisions of the Swedish and French laws, as well as the analyses ofLeymann and Hirigoyen.