EIRP Proceedings, Vol 12 (2017)

Abstract

This paper addresses the grey legal area of moral harassment at work under the Romanian legislation, with a focus on employer responsibilities deriving from claims grounded on such discrimination deed. It puts under spot light an issue that Romanian employers confront with on a daily basis and which has not been analysed and conceptualized up to the present. The author has relied on previous research she conducted with respect to moral harassment at work, with the aim to build legislative propositions to be further considered during the legislative process. The research outlines the currently applicable legal framework in Romania, as well as the status quo of the files submitted with the courts of law addressing moral harassment at work. The paper synthetises the conclusions of the observations made throughout the last 4 years in practice (court procedure). This paper highlights that, despite the efforts undertaken by the Romanian legislator in order to ensure protection of employees at work, the concept of “moral harassment at work” does not benefit from any regulation under the Romanian legislation. As a paradox, there is an outstanding number of court files initiated by (former) employees against their employers, grounded on mobbing, that usually go through the two-stage trial procedure (first phase of judgement and appeal), thus determining the courts of law to frame the concept of moral harassment at work based on related legal concepts (discrimination, harassment, psychological harassment). The study has implications for researchers, employees and employers, students and academics. This paper stands out as a first legal and practice research on the topic of employer responsibilities in moral harassment claims under the Romanian legislation.