News - 16.11.2023

Violence and harassment widespread issue in the workplace

More than half of VR members have experienced violence or harassment in the workplace sometime during their career, or 54%. The share is even higher among VR members who do not speak Icelandic, or 60%, and highest among women aged 25-34 years, or 67%. These are the results of a new survey VR carried out among 30,000 members in September 2023.

The survey’s findings are alarming and indicate that violence and harassment in the workplace is a grave and widespread problem in Iceland.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines violence or harassment as any kind of behavior of practice that aims at or results in physical, psychological, sexual, or economic harm. Violence or harassment in the workplace can take place on the job, at work-related social events, on business trips, through work-related communications, or when commuting to and from work. This is a relatively broad definition. According to ILO, violence or harassment at work can entail anything from rude behavior or hurtful words to serious physical or sexual violence.

VR’s survey reveals that there is a fairly large group that experiences violence or harassment at work on a regular basis. About 18% of all VR members have experienced violence or harassment at work in the last 12 months, half of them having experienced violence or harassment four times or more in the same time period. There are roughly 40,000 VR members and one can therefore conclude that 3,600 VR members have repeatedly been the victims of violence or harassment at work in the last 12 months.

What kind of violence or harassment?

The most common manifestation of violence or harassment at work among VR members is psychological in nature. One in four members have received unfair criticism of their work in the last 12 months. An example of unfair criticism might be when customers or managers show disrespect or anger towards workers over issues which are in no way under their control. In the same time period, 18% of VR members experienced hurtful or humiliating behavior in front of others.
The results of VR’s survey also show that 8% of members have experienced threatening behavior or verbal threats on the job in the last 12 months, 6% have experience sexual harassment and just under 1% have experienced physical violence. These numbers reveal an ugly truth, and it is important to remember the people who stand behind them. For example, the fact that 1% of VR members have experienced physical violence translates to hundreds of cases per year.

Preventive measures important

According to law, companies are obligated to perform a so-called psychosocial risk assessment, which entails analyzing any risk factors in the work environment which relate to organization, management and communication, taking action to facilitate positivity in the workplace, and putting together response plans for cases relating to bullying, violence, or harassment at work.

In VR’s survey, respondents were asked to answer three questions about their workplace’s preventive measures. Respondents were asked whether their workplace had a defined response-plan for handling cases of violence or harassment at work, whether their workplace had performed a risk assessment in relation to these issues, and finally whether respondents would know where to go if they themselves were ever to experience violence or harassment at work. The results reveal that the state of preventive measures varies widely between workplaces. A quarter of respondents said that there was no risk assessment in place at their workplace and 21% said that there was no response-plan for cases relating to violence or harassment. Then there was a significant number of respondents who said that they simply did not know whether such risk assessments or response plans existed. A large majority of respondents knew where to go or who to talk to if they were ever to experience violence or harassment, or 80%.

A striking result from VR’s survey is that preventive measures of this kind seem to be very effective when it comes to reducing cases of violence or harassment at work. VR members at workplaces where preventive measures are in disarray, i.e., where there are no risk-assessments or response plans are much more likely to have experienced violence or harassment at work than those whose workplaces have such plans in place. The same group is also much more likely to have witnessed violence or harassment being carried out against a colleague and are much more likely to be unsatisfied with the way the workplace responds to incidents of violence or harassment, if they do indeed report the incident.

What can we do? Four concrete actions

International comparisons seem to indicate that the situation with regards to violence and harassment at work is better in Iceland than in many neighboring countries. In a recent survey among UK retail workers, 90% reported having experienced verbal abuse at work in 2020 and 11% reported incidents of physical violence. In a recent survey from Finland, 56% of retail workers reported incidents of sexual harassment in a 12-month time period, see more here.

Comparing these figures to Iceland does not change the fact that the situation here is serious and unacceptable. One case is one too many. What can be done? It is necessary that everyone does their part in the battle against violence and harassment at work: the government, companies, unions, and the public must unite in this cause. In honor of the international day against violence in commerce, which is tomorrow, November 17th, VR challenges the appropriate groups to take the following four actions, all of which could reduce violence and harassment in an effective manner:

1. Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament, could ratify the ILO-190 convention against violence and harassment at work which was adopted by the International Labor Organization at its congress in June 2019. Iceland cast its vote in favor of the convention but has yet to ratify it at home. The convention would entail a wide array of laws and policies which would ensure support for those who suffer from violence or harassment at work, investigation of incidents by the relevant authorities, and so forth. The convention also addresses victims of domestic violence and according to ILO-190 workers who suffer from domestic abuse must receive the right to leave from work, flexible work hours, and temporary employment protection. VR demands that Alþingi ratify ILO-190 as soon as possible.
2. Companies can ensure that preventive measures are in place by fulfilling their legal obligations to carry out psychosocial risk assessments. The VR survey shows that preventive measures of this kind reduce the risk of violence and harassment significantly, together with having response plans in place and making sure that there is a steady flow of information to workers.
3. Unions like VR can pressure the government into ratifying ILO-190 and assist companies in ensuring that their preventive measures are up to par. Unions are also a resource for workers who experience violence or harassment at work. VR would like to remind all of its members that they can always receive assistance and guidance from the union in these situations and encourages members who have experience violence or harassment work to reach out to VR via telephone (+354 510 1700) or email (vr@vr.is).
4. The public can make sure that they show workers respect, whether at their own workplace or elsewhere. This is especially important in the upcoming Christmas season, where retail workers in particular will be under a lot of stress and have historically too often had to deal with unacceptable behavior from customers. It does not cost anything to be polite.

Read more about the results of the VR survey here.