The Estonian government has approved a bill to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment at Work, writes the Tööelu portal. :format(webp)/nginx/o/2024/05/20/16086468t1hbe39.jpg)
Minister of Economy Tiit Riisalo. Photo: Matti Kämärä / Põhjarannik
The Estonian government has approved a bill to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment at Work, writes the Tööelu portal.
By joining the international convention, Estonia promises to respect, understand and promote everyone's right to a working world free from violence and harassment. It is the first international document to set specific standards applicable worldwide to prevent harassment and violence at work. This is to ensure that everyone has the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based harassment.
“Violence and harassment in the world of work can have serious consequences for people's physical and mental health, they can also lead to economic harm and threaten the effectiveness of equal opportunities,” said Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna. “By ratifying the convention, Estonia is making clear that we respect everyone’s right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, and we also guarantee this by law.”
“People must have a safe and healthy working environment,” Minister of Economy and Information Technology Tiit Riisalo supported Tsahkna. – The physical and psychological consequences of incidents of violence and harassment can be extremely serious for individuals, organizations and society. Just as violence should have no place in people's private lives, it should have no place in the work environment. The Estonian legal space does not allow this even now, but by ratifying the convention, the country is also making clear at the international level that harassment and violence in Estonia are unacceptable and that we must do everything possible to eradicate it.”
A 2021 survey by Statistics Estonia found that 5,800 workers were harassed or mistreated at work in the last 12 months, about 60 percent of whom were women. In addition, in 2022, the Department of Statistics conducted the first relationship survey, according to which 33 percent of women and 17 percent of men surveyed had experienced sexual harassment at work.
Estonian legislation complies with the principles presented in the convention and there is no need to change legislation to ratify the convention. The protection of individuals is ensured by the Constitution, the Penal Code, the Victim Assistance Act, the Gender Equality Act, the Equal Treatment Act, the Employment Contracts Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and related development plans and strategies also ensure equal treatment in the world of work and protection from harassment and violence. However, ratification of the convention requires further work on this topic and constant raising of awareness among the parties.
The Convention in respect of Estonia will enter into force 12 months after registration of the instrument of ratification with the Director General of the International Labor Organization.
