Written by Anna Apergi Konstantinidis, Special Advisor Diversity Charter Greece

88% of the total recorded complaints concern incidents of verbal and physical violence and moral or psychological harassment, while 12% concern sexual harassment .

A particularly important element in the Report is that with regard to complaints of sexual harassment, there is a huge increase , as in 2023 12 incidents were reported, while in 2024 38 incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace were reported.

Of the 38 complaints, 34 involved women, while there was also one complaint from a transgender person who was a victim of sexual harassment at work .

At this point, we should emphasize that the above numbers and percentages are indicative as they only concern recorded incidents that were reported to the Labor Inspectorate, meaning that the actual number is many times higher.

Indeed, it is a reality that a large majority of victims do not want to file formal complaints, either for reasons of fear, or for reasons of re-traumatization, or even because there is a lack of trust in the authorities .

From my personal experience, I will tell you that I am aware of and was present at 6 complaints of incidents of harassment and violence against transgender people in the workplace, but only one of them wanted to file an official complaint with the Labor Inspectorate.

More generally, what we see once again in the annual Labor Inspectorate Report is that the largest percentage of victims are women, which means that the incidents have, to a large extent, roots in misogyny and patriarchy, that is, they have an authoritarian nature .

More specifically, according to the Report, out of a total of 318 complaints in 2024:

• 99 were resolved by taking appropriate and proportionate measures, following the relevant compliance recommendations to businesses and relevant monitoring of their implementation, i.e. a percentage of 31%.
• 21 were cancelled either due to the complainants’ failure to appear at the scheduled hearing, or due to a written revocable declaration by the latter, especially when a resolution was reached between the parties in view of the scheduled hearing before our services, or because specific incidents of violence and harassment were not further analyzed during the hearing, so that they could be subject to the special procedure of article 18 of Law. 4808/2021.
• In 124 cases (39%), a reasoned opinion recommending an appeal to the competent courts has been recorded by the Labour Inspector conducting the procedure. On the one hand, due to conflicting allegations on disputed factual and legal issues, which require judicial assessment, and on the other hand, because it was not possible to utilize the procedural rule of the reversal of the burden of proof, since the incomplete information about the accused was not capable of establishing the required standard of proof and thus the recommendation of an appeal to the competent courts was inevitable. Judicial practice has proven that the reasoned opinion of the Labour Inspector conducting the procedure, which results from the substantive investigation of the case and the complete relevant file accompanying it, constitutes a basic compass and cornerstone for the operative part of the decision of the natural judge.
• In 31 cases, based on the current regulatory framework, sanctions totaling 57,600 euros were imposed.
• Another 43 cases, the most recent in calendar terms, are ongoing.

Gender-based violence, sexism, sexual harassment in the workplace do not only concern certain professions. They can happen everywhere in all work sectors, they do not discriminate. And the ones that reach our ears and we hear about are the most brutal, the most violent, and that is very worrying.