Workplace bullying and chronic work-related stress are increasingly present in institutions and organisations.

Against psychosocial problems, we will start from the premise that the level of tolerance should be 0 and denounce. But what is the current reality regarding the development of prevention plans according to regulations?

They must prevent and deal with psychosocial problems such as mobbing, burnout, harassment.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA) has defined workplace bullying as “repeated irrational behaviour towards an employee or a group of employees, which constitutes a risk to their health and safety”.

The first impression when dealing with this psychosocial problem in public administrations is one of surprise, as no one speaks directly about it, despite the development of legislation and the various guides that have been published.

From the most up-to-date political perspective! The importance of psychosocial problems and the way they affect the social fabric is known first hand, the Administration should not forget, as there are significant cases of harassment at work that must be understood in order to be able to act and eradicate them.

The consequences of a hostile attitude to the moral and working dignity of people can be This is aggravated when it is the public administration itself – which is responsible for the well-being of its workers – that causes this serious psychosocial problem.

Numerous factors are at play in its genesis, including the following:

1.-The personalities of the actors, both of the bully (fear, envy and, basically, the need to dominate) and of the bullied (authenticity, vulnerability and, above all, the need to feel valued).

2.-Factors that depend on the organisation of work, which are almost essential for the occurrence of psychological harassment in a work environment.

The most important of these are:

– Management control of information.
– Group cohesion, which makes it difficult to accept members with different ideas.
– Putting power and control above effectiveness.

After several months of harassment, the stress symptoms, which were undifferentiated at the beginning of the aggression, develop into overt physical and psychological disorders.

Psychological harassment leaves indelible marks, which can range from post-traumatic stress disorder to lasting changes in the victim’s personality.

Some of the specific consequences are:

-The guilt.
-The shame and humiliation.
-The loss of self-esteem.
-Psychic modifications: chronic depression and neurosis, paranoid traits.
-Personality modifications: bipolar traits.
-Psychosomatic disorders: chronic fatigue, headaches, stomach ulcers, skin disorders…

Exposure to conduct of psychological violence directed, repeatedly and over a prolonged period of time, at one or more specific persons by other persons acting from a position of power (not necessarily hierarchical) with the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating environment that disrupts the victim’s working life. This violence, in the context of an employment relationship, implies both an attack on the dignity of the person and a risk to their SOCIAL HEALTH.

Everyone has the right to be treated with respect and dignity, to health at work, to be treated equally and to be free from discrimination in the workplace. Administrations are committed to eradicating situations of harassment in the public working and professional environment.