Workplace harassment in Spain: how to prove it and report it

The Spanish Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Workers Statute) does not define workplace harassment, often called mobbing, but that does not leave you empty-handed. The law does protect your dignity at work, your health and your right not to suffer sexual harassment or harassment on certain grounds. You have three routes: warn the employer, report it to the Inspección de Trabajo (Labour Inspectorate) or go to court to leave the job with compensation. In almost every case the key is the same: dated evidence.

The law protects you even without the word «mobbing»

Article 4.2 of the Statute recognises several rights that serve as the basis:

• Dignity and privacy (4.2.e): the right to respect for your privacy and to the consideration due to your dignity, including protection against harassment based on racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and against sexual harassment and harassment based on sex.
• Physical integrity and risk prevention (4.2.d and art. 19): your employer must protect you effectively. Sustained hostility is a risk to your health.
• Non-discrimination (4.2.c): also once you are employed.

Not every bad atmosphere is harassment. A demanding boss, an order you dislike or a one-off clash is not enough. What matters is whether the conduct is repeated, aimed at you and humiliates or isolates you. An inspector or a judge will assess that; you bring facts, not adjectives.

What you can do, route by route

The LISOS (the law on labour infringements and sanctions) classes as very serious employer acts against respect for privacy and dignity (art. 8.11), sexual harassment (8.13) and harassment on the other grounds in article 4.2.e (8.13 bis). Fines for very serious infringements range from €7,501 to €225,018 depending on the degree (art. 40.1.c). Under 8.13 bis the employer is liable if, once it knew of the harassment, it did not take the measures needed to stop it. That is why the written notice matters so much.

How to gather evidence without making it complicated

1. A diary with dates: what happened, who was there, what time.
2. Messages, emails and voice notes you receive. Save them outside your work phone.
3. Names of witnesses, even if they are not yet willing to testify.
4. Medical or psychology reports if the harassment has affected your health.
5. Your own communications to the employer with proof of receipt: a short email saying what is happening, since when and what you ask for.

Recording a conversation you take part in is a grey area depending on the case. Speak to an employment lawyer before using one.

Leaving the job: article 50 and its compensation

Article 50.1.c of the Statute gives just cause to ask to end the contract for «any other serious breach» by the employer. Harassment, or a failure to act against it, may fit. If the judge agrees, article 50.2 gives you the compensation for unfair dismissal: 33 days’ salary per year of service, capped at 24 months (art. 56.1), with months pro-rated.

An example. Marta has worked since April 2022 and earns €1,500 gross a month in 12 payments (€18,000 a year):

If your service began before 12 February 2012, the earlier period is calculated under different rules (eleventh transitional provision). For your exact figure use the severance pay calculator and read how to calculate unfair dismissal severance.

Two warnings. This route needs a claim and a ruling; leaving is not enough. And walking out on your own before a judge rules can end as a voluntary resignation, with no compensation and no unemployment benefit. If the judge rules, the article 50 termination does give legal unemployment status (art. 267 of the Social Security Act).

And the person harassing you: disciplinary dismissal

Article 54.2.g of the Statute lists among the breaches that justify disciplinary dismissal harassment based on racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and sexual or sex-based harassment, directed at the employer or at people who work in the company. If the harasser is a colleague or a manager, the company can dismiss them. That is its decision, not yours. Your part is to report with evidence and demand that it acts.

What to do in the first week

1. Write down today what happened, with date and time, before you forget.
2. Copy the relevant messages and emails to a place the company does not control.
3. If there are workers’ representatives or a union delegate, tell them: they can accompany you and raise the case with management.
4. Send a short message to the company, or to whoever manages people, describing the facts and asking for measures. Ask for proof of receipt.
5. If it affects your health, see your doctor and make sure it is recorded in your file.
6. Speak to a union or an employment lawyer before resigning, signing anything or recording. A wrong step can cost you the compensation or your unemployment benefit.

You do not need to have it all sorted on day one. But start documenting, because the argument is often not about what the law says but about what can be proved.

Why your case may be different

• Your collective agreement or company may have a harassment protocol with a channel, deadlines and a procedure. Ask for it in writing and use it; it strengthens your complaint.
• If the harassment does not fit the grounds in 4.2.e, article 8.13 bis will not apply. Dignity (8.11) and health and safety remain open.
• If you have already been dismissed, the 20-working-day deadline to challenge it comes before everything else.
• If your service is short, the compensation may be small. Some people go ahead anyway for other reasons: dignity, unemployment certificate, stopping the situation.

If you are dismissed for reporting, the deadline to challenge is short: see how long you have to challenge a dismissal.

This is general information and does not replace professional advice. With deadlines or money at stake, speak to an employment lawyer (abogado laboralista) or a union.