The Law on Prohibition of Harassment at Work in Republika Srpska complements the Labour Law which only partially covers issues related to the harassment at work.

This Law also introduced the role of the Agency in the process of achieving the right to protection at workplace. In cases when worker deems to be the victim of harassment at workplace, s/he can submit request for protection to her/his employer. If there is no agreement between worker and employer, the worker can address the Agency and submit proposal for amicable dispute resolution.

The ILO supported the Agency’s effort to respond to these new legal responsibilities through the Employment and Social Affairs Platform (ESAP) 2 project, funded by the European Union. Lejla Tanovic, the ILO National Coordinator, and Ada Huibregtse, ESAP 2 Chief Technical Advisor emphasized the ILO commitment to continued support in the field of mediation of labour disputes and workplace harassment. 

As part of the capacity building, Maria-José Chamorro, ILO Gender and Formalization Specialist, presented the C190 - Violence and Harassment Convention that, amongst other, recognizes the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment.

The presentation highlighted the innovative elements of the C190, such as recognition of the negative effects that domestic violence can have in the world of work and inclusion of definitions of gender-based violence. Mrs. Chamorro also presented the manners of addressing the violence and harassment at work through prevention and protection, enforcement and remedies, and guidance and training.

Capacity building continued with the presentation of Dr. Angela du Plessis, ILO external collaborator with a long-standing experience in mediation in labour relations and handling of the cases of sexual harassment at the work place.

Dr. du Plessis provided some useful tips for the mediators and arbiters in her presentation titled “Using mediation to deal with sexual harassment cases at the workplace”. The presentation started with definition of sexual harassment, continued with the four themes in the arena of sexual harassment and the topic of alternative dispute resolution. The presentation also covered the issue of general advantages of the mediation in sexual harassment cases, as well as explained two models of mediation for these of cases.

Presentation was wrapped up with the Question-and-Answer session.

Complete presentation “Using mediation to deal with sexual harassment cases at the workplace” can be downloaded here (in English).

Presentation can also be found in BHS, Albanian and Macedonian.