Within the framework of the Labor Reform, published in the Federal Official Gazette on May 1, 2019, different articles of the Federal Labor Law (LFT) were amended, highlighting the incorporation of section XXXI to article 132, to include the following employer obligation: Implement, in agreement with the employees, a protocol to prevent discrimination based on gender and address cases of violence and harassment or sexual harassment, as well as eradicate forced and child labor.

Due to the broad wording of the cited article, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) developed a conceptual scheme for the preparation of the Protocol for the prevention, care and eradication of workplace violence, which includes workplace harassment, as well as the harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace.

The LFT defines in article 3 Bis the concepts of harassment, sexual harassment and workplace harassment, in the following terms:

• Harassment, is the exercise of power in a relationship of real subordination of the victim to the aggressor in the workplace, which is expressed in verbal or physical conduct or both.
• Sexual harassment, is a form of violence in which, although there is no subordination, there is an abusive exercise of power that leads to a state of defenselessness and risk for the victim, regardless of whether it is carried out in one or more events.
• Workplace harassment, its purpose is to intimidate, overshadow, flatten, or emotionally or intellectually consume the victim, with a view to excluding the victim from the organization or to satisfy the need to attack, control or destroy, which the harasser usually presents. Regarding its typology, it is presented in three levels, according to who adopts the role of active subject:

1. Horizontal. When aggressiveness or harassment at work is carried out between colleagues in the work environment, that is, active and passive, they occupy a similar level in the occupational hierarchy;
2. Vertical descending. It happens when aggressiveness or workplace harassment is carried out among those who occupy positions of hierarchy or superiority with respect to the victim; and
3. Vertical ascending. It occurs less frequently and refers to workplace harassment carried out among those who occupy subordinate positions with respect to the victimized boss.

The purpose of the STPS is to provide a model of “Protocol to prevent, attend and eradicate workplace violence” with the purpose of facilitating, in agreement with the employees, compliance by the employers with the provisions of Article 132, section XXXI of the LFT, which field of application is the work centers that belong to section A of article 123 of the Constitution.

The Protocol model has the following specific objectives:

1. Define the mechanism to provide care to the alleged victims of any case of workplace violence; and
2. Promote an organizational culture of gender equality and a work environment conducive to the eradication of workplace violence.

It is mandatory for the employer to carry out various activities, among which are: the preparation of a satisfaction survey, interviews with harassed personnel, as well as the preparation of action plans and a follow-up on them.

At Trejo Gutiérrez Abogados, we have a group of experts in labor matters with more than 20 years in the market. Please do not hesitate to contact us, we will be glad to provide the personalized legal advice that you require, including legal advice, training, as well as preparation and implementation of action plans to ensure due compliance with the model of “Protocol to prevent, attend and eradicate workplace violence”.