Mobbing is an English word, which is becoming very frequent in our region and means harassment at work. If you know victims of mobbing or have been victims of mobbing yourselves, then you need to know that you certainly can fight against mobbing. Branka Inic (right), lawyer in the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, gave review about legal remedies in cases of mobbing. (28-MAY-07)

This article is based on the Interview with Branka Inic, which has republicated here by HRH / Mirsad Pandzic.

According to Leymann: “Mobbing or psychological terror at work refers to hostile and unethical communication directed systematically by one or more individuals mostly against an individual, who is placed in a situation of helplessness and impossibility to defend him/herself due to mobbing and is kept in such a situation due to constant maltreatment activities. They occur in great frequency and over a longer period of time.  Due to great frequency and long duration of hostile conduct, this maltreatment leads to considerable mental, psychosomatic and social suffering”.

Victims of mobbing
Every worker in his/her working life has 25 per cent chance of becoming a victim of mobbing at least once in his/her lifetime. Mobbing is far more than occasional conflicts or office arguments. Those who practice mobbing have conscious intentions of harming a worker and eventually forcing him/her to leave the work place.

There are specialized clinics in Europe for treatment of victims of inhumane conduct of their superiors, who do not aim at productivity of the company but suppression of their subordinated staff.

The abusers
Psychologists claim that the abusers, “mobbers”, are persons with disturbed personalities. These are less capable, but powerful persons without any capacity for love, joy, play, creativity, giving and sharing. The weak easily join them out of fear of becoming victims themselves. The abusers are covering their own impotence in some other spheres of their life (mostly, private life) with mobbing, forming a group around themselves, where they can prove their power and importance at the expense of victims. The abusers in fact frequently feel inferior. They frequently act this way fearing that they will not be respected or that they will become someone’s victims themselves.

Mobbing in our region
But, how are things in our region? The poor economic situation and necessity have forced workers to do whatever they can do for living, even to suffer mobbing. Harassment ranges from psychological and physical abuse to sexual harassment and various forms of discrimination.

Although there is labour legislation, workers are rarely able to defend themselves from such attacks, as this legislation does not deal with mobbing or any other sort of harassment resulting from mobbing.

”Work place is the only place where human rights are being violated without anyone being held responsible for these violations. However, a consequence of mobbing in many cases is issuance of illegal decisions by the employers. In such situations, the Helsinki Committee has recommended to the victims of mobbing or victimization launching of court proceedings for annulment of illegal decisions and having mobbing and victimization infused into the court proceedings and mentioned in court verdicts”, the Helsinki Committee lawyer, Branka Inic, explained. 

Legislation
Although there is no legislation dealing with mobbing and its consequences, the Helsinki Committee is working on implementation of the Anti-Discrimination Law. This law defines mobbing and victimization. After adoption of this Anti-Discrimination Law, there will be a legal provision on mobbing. Although only one case of mobbing has been known so far and reported by the Centre for Investigative Reporting, which is the case of Zahida Selak, a graphics worker in the FBiH Archives, who filed a lawsuit against her superior Mensur Hadzimusic and claimed damages for “mobbing suffered and psychological abuse at work”, the Committee says that there have been other cases as well.

Cases of mobbing
”Cases of mobbing and victimization are registered with the Committee upon complaints. Upon recommendation of the Committee, parties even decide to start the court proceedings. One of them was resolved successfully for the benefit of our party. Still, the subject matter of the lawsuit was the illegal decisions issued by the employer and disabling of the female employee to carry out duties from the work contract. Mobbing was only infused through the texts of the verdict and the explanation, but this is also very good”, Inic added.

Although the Labour Law refers to both private and public companies, most employers are private entrepreneurs, which implies that they can do whatever they wish in their companies.

”The Labour Law applies to both private and public institutions. However, we frequently face conduct and actions of employers who make decisions as if they were the “legislators” themselves, and application of the law depends on their will. The Committee has observed that the employers’ responsibility is frequently being ignored, that many employees refrain from launching court proceedings, they accept the illegal conduct, etc”, Inic stressed.