POLICY FOR THE PREVENTION AND COMBATING OF VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT AT WORK & POLICY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF INTERNAL COMPLAINTS REGARDING INCIDENTS OF VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT AT WORK, UNDER ARTICLES 9 AND 10 OF LAW 4808/2021.
1. Our company observes all measures and obligations concerning the implementation of the provisions of Part II of Law 4808/2021 regarding the prevention and handling of all forms of violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment and sexual harassment.
2. The purpose of this policy is to create and establish a working environment that respects, promotes and safeguards human dignity and the right of every person to a world of work free from violence and harassment. Our company states that it recognises and respects the right of every employee to a working environment free from violence and harassment and that it does not tolerate any such behaviour, in any form and by any person.
3. This policy is adopted in accordance with Articles 9 and 10 of Law 4808/2021 and the regulatory legislation issued for their implementation and concerns the persons of paragraph 1 of Article 3 of Law 4808/2021, specifically:
- Employees and workers employed by our company regardless of their contractual status, including those employed under a dependent employment contract, full-time or part-time or rotational employment, fixed-term or indefinite-term.
- Persons employed under a project contract, independent services contract, or paid mandate.
- Any persons employed through third-party service providers.
- Any persons undergoing training, including interns, apprentices and volunteers.
- Employees whose employment relationship has ended.
- Persons applying for employment.
4. Forms of conduct involving violence and harassment against the persons referred to in the above paragraph (para. 3) may take place:
- in the workplace, including public and private spaces and places where the employee provides work, receives payment, takes a break, especially for rest or food, in personal hygiene and care areas, changing rooms or accommodation provided by the employer,
- during travel to and from work, other travel, business trips, training, as well as events and social activities related to work, and
- during work-related communications, including those carried out through information and communication technologies.
5. Through this policy, the company declares that it will apply a zero-tolerance policy towards every form of violence, harassment, gender-based harassment, sexual harassment, intimidation and threats at work, insults and belittlement for any reason or cause, abusive expressions etc. that may occur at work or in connection with it. The company also expresses its commitment to the prevention, handling and elimination of such behaviours should they occur.
6. It is expressly and categorically stated that any form of violence and harassment is prohibited, whether it occurs during work, is connected to it or arises from it, including gender-based violence and harassment and sexual harassment.
7. For the purposes of this policy:
a) “Violence and harassment” means forms of conduct, acts, practices or threats thereof, which aim at, lead to or are likely to lead to physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm, whether they occur as isolated incidents or repeatedly.
b) “Harassment” means forms of conduct which have the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment, regardless of whether they constitute a form of discrimination, and include gender-based harassment or harassment on other grounds of discrimination.
c) “Gender-based harassment” means forms of conduct related to a person’s gender, which have the purpose or effect of violating that person’s dignity and creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment in accordance with Article 2 of Law 3896/2010 (Government Gazette A’ 107) and paragraph 2 of Article 2 of Law 4443/2016 (Government Gazette A’ 232). These forms of conduct also include sexual harassment under Law 3896/2010, as well as forms of conduct related to a person’s sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity or sex characteristics.
d) “Sexual harassment” means any form of unwanted verbal, psychological or physical conduct of a sexual nature, resulting in the violation of a person’s personality, in particular by creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment around that person.
Indicative examples of such unwanted behaviours that are strictly prohibited include sexual innuendos, mockery, obscene, sexual or racist jokes or comments, the use of offensive language, comments about someone’s appearance or character that cause shame or embarrassment, surveillance, stalking, sending messages with sexual content by any means, including telephone messages, emails, social media, other electronic/online applications, fax or letter, offensive and persistent questions about age, marital status, personal life, sexual interests or preferences, race or nationality, including political identity and religion, sexual gestures or persistent date proposals or threats, insinuations that sexual favours could advance someone’s career or that refusal to enter into a relationship could negatively affect their professional development in the company, rude gestures, touching and any kind of unwanted physical contact, spreading malicious comments or insulting someone due to discrimination based on age, gender, type of marriage, civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, any disability, sexual preferences, religion or beliefs, verbal or gestural threats, public or private verbal abuse, belittling or ridiculing a person or their abilities either privately or in front of others, outbursts of anger against someone, persistent or inflexible criticism, cyberbullying, offensive messages through any medium, letters and phone calls, display and distribution of offensive material or material of a sexual nature, acts of retaliation, isolation or refusal to cooperate with a colleague, or spreading malicious or abusive rumours.
To avoid any misunderstandings and/or misinterpretations during the implementation of this policy, which could cause unnecessary and/or inappropriate involvement and negatively affect the smooth operation of the company, it is clarified that, in principle, behaviours within the limits of the employer’s managerial right and the applicable legal framework are not considered acts of violence and harassment, where such behaviours are directly or indirectly connected with the supervision and control of the company’s employees, their efficiency and effectiveness, their evaluation and their overall work presence.
A. POLICY FOR THE PREVENTION AND COMBATING OF VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT AT WORK
I) Assessment of risks of violence and harassment at work.
The company’s main objective is the prevention and elimination of every phenomenon of violence and harassment at work, as well as the effective handling even of suspicions of such phenomena. For this reason, the company will include psychosocial risks in the Occupational Risk Assessment Study, including, among others, risks connected with violence and harassment, taking into account, among other factors, any inherent risk arising from the nature of the activity, the job position, factors such as gender and age or other characteristics that constitute grounds for discrimination, as well as risks concerning special groups of employees, such as night workers and newly recruited employees.
For this assessment, digital occupational risk assessment tools may be used, such as those available for our country through the interactive online OiRA platform (Online Interactive Risk Assessment) at http://www.oiraproject.eu of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).
II) Measures for the prevention, control, limitation and handling of these risks, as well as for the monitoring of such incidents or forms of conduct.
The company’s measures and practices for the prevention, control, limitation and handling of these risks, as well as for the monitoring of such incidents or forms of conduct, are the following:
A) Encouraging the maintenance of a working climate where respect for human dignity, cooperation and mutual assistance are fundamental values.
B) Maintaining open communication between employees and the company director, direct supervisors and colleagues.
C) Establishing a procedure for the management of reports/complaints.
D) Ensuring that employees have the necessary training/information to perform their duties, especially in job positions that have a higher risk of incidents of violence and harassment occurring.
E) Providing assistance and access to every competent public, administrative or judicial authority during the investigation of such an incident or conduct, when requested by such authorities.
F) Actions to raise employee awareness of healthy standards of conduct, such as avoiding dependencies, as well as issues concerning vulnerable categories of employees.
G) Providing employees with information regarding possible risks of violence and harassment in the workplace and the relevant prevention and protection measures, including the obligations and rights of employees and the employer in such incidents.
H) Training employees in procedures for managing incidents of violence.
I) Posting information in an accessible location in the workplace regarding the procedure for reporting and handling such forms of conduct.
III) Actions for informing and raising awareness among staff.
Our company will:
- Organise targeted staff meetings to discuss relevant issues and address potential risks in a timely manner.
- Hold seminars with mental health specialists or counselling service providers, representatives of voluntary organisations, etc.
- Encourage the participation of employee representatives and management executives in training programmes and educational seminars concerning the recognition and management of risks of violence and harassment at work.
IV) Information on the rights and obligations of employees and the employer, as well as of persons exercising managerial authority or representing the employer, to the extent and degree of their responsibility, in the event of occurrence, report or complaint of such incidents, as well as regarding the relevant procedure.
Every employee and, in general, every person referred to in paragraph 3 of the preamble who is affected by an incident of violence and harassment against them, even if their employment relationship/contract has ended, within the context of which the incident or conduct is alleged to have occurred against them, has the right:
A) To judicial protection.
B) To appeal to the Labour Inspectorate using the following contact details: citizen service telephone line 1555, or through the website https://www.sepe.gov.gr/
C) To appeal before the Greek Ombudsman at the following contact details: 17 Chalkokondyli Street, P.C. 104 32 Athens, tel: (+30) 213 1306 600, e-mail: [email protected]
D) To contact the immediate psychological support and counselling service for women victims of gender-based violence through the SOS telephone line 15900.
E) To report/complain about the incident or conduct within our company, as provided for in Section/Chapter B of this policy.
F) In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 12 of Law 4808/21, to request from our company the taking of measures against the person complained of and/or the taking of measures concerning their own protection.
G) To leave the workplace for a reasonable period of time, without loss of salary or any other adverse consequence, if, according to their reasonable belief, there is an imminent serious risk to their life, health or safety, especially when the necessary appropriate measures for their protection have not been taken or when the measures taken are not capable of restoring workplace peace and stopping the violent and harassing conduct.
In this case, the departing person must previously inform the employer in writing, stating the incident of violence and harassment and the facts that justify their belief that there is an imminent serious risk to their life, health or safety. If the risk does not exist or has ceased to exist and the person referred to in paragraph 3 refuses to return to the workplace, the employer may appeal to the Labour Inspectorate with a request for resolution of the dispute, as provided for in Article 18 of Law 4808/2021.
H) To claim full compensation before the courts, covering their actual and consequential damage, as well as moral damage.
Every employee and, in general, every person referred to in paragraph 3 of the preamble is obliged:
A) To comply with this policy for their personal protection, as well as for the protection of the other persons employed by the company.
B) To immediately report any incident of violence and harassment to the reference person / “contact person” of this Policy.
C) To cooperate in the event of investigation of any internal report/complaint within the company.
D) To participate in the company’s actions and training programmes concerning incidents of violence and harassment.
E) Not to engage personally in unwanted and prohibited conduct in the performance of their duties.
F) To immediately inform the “contact person” referred to in this policy, namely the reference person, of any incidents of violence and harassment that occurred in their work area or area of responsibility.
G) Not to prevent/deter another person from exercising their rights and obligations, as provided for by this Policy and the legislation.
The company undertakes to take the necessary, appropriate and proportionate measures, as the case may be, against the person complained of, in order to prevent and avoid the repetition of a similar incident or conduct.
V) Reference person (“contact person”).
The reference person (“contact person”) whom any employee may contact for fuller guidance and information regarding the prevention and handling of violence and harassment at work is Misthos Ioannis, son of Sokratis, Accountant of the company.
The contact details of the reference person (“contact person”) are:
Telephone: 2241068140
Postal Address: 35 km Rhodes – Lindos – Rhodes
E-mail: [email protected]
The role of the reference person (“contact person”) is informative and consists of guiding and informing employees, regardless of whether they contact him in relation to an incident or complaint concerning an incident of violence and harassment or not.
The reference person (“contact person”) is obliged to protect Personal Data (PD), which may come to his knowledge during the exercise of his role.
The reference person may be changed by decision of the company’s Board of Directors.
VI) Protection of victims of domestic violence.
Our company protects employment and supports work by every appropriate means or reasonable adjustment for its employees referred to in this Policy, who are victims of domestic violence.
B. POLICY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF INTERNAL COMPLAINTS REGARDING INCIDENTS OF VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT AT WORK
I) Competent persons & communication channels
The competent person for receiving and examining reports/complaints and grievances concerning behaviours of violence and/or harassment as defined in this policy, as well as for informing the persons complained of, is Misthos Ioannis, son of Sokratis (tel. 2241068240, mobile 6944726627).
Every employee who considers that they have suffered violence and/or harassment, as well as every employee who becomes aware of incidents of violence and/or harassment in breach of this Policy, may complain/report the incident in writing through the following communication channels:
- Sending a letter to the address: 3rd KM RHODES-LINDOS, RHODES
- Sending an e-mail to: [email protected]
- Delivering a letter to the competent person: Misthos Ioannis
All complaints/reports will be handled with absolute confidentiality and discretion and will be kept in a secure location.
Upon submission of the complaint, the competent person will inform the affected person that, at any stage of the procedure followed within the company, they also have the option to submit a complaint to the competent administrative authorities within their jurisdiction, namely the Labour Inspectorate and the Greek Ombudsman, as well as to the judicial authorities, at their discretion.
II) Interim measures in favour of the complainant & Investigation and examination of complaints.
A) Interim measures in favour of the complainant.
The company shall, where required on a case-by-case basis, following agreement with the complainant/affected person, take immediate and appropriate measures to protect them until the full investigation and final examination of the complaints. Indicatively and depending on the case, these measures are:
- Change of the staff working hours and working days.
- Transfer of the complainant to another work department or another branch of the company, if available, for a period to be agreed.
- Employment of the complainant through remote work, if the nature of their work permits.
- Granting the complainant paid leave.
B) Investigation and examination of complaints.
Our company undertakes that the receipt of any complaint relating to this policy shall not be obstructed and, at the same time, undertakes to manage and investigate every such complaint promptly, impartially, with respect for human dignity, confidentiality and compliance with the rules for the protection of Personal Data of the complainant, the person complained of, the persons examined, etc., while also taking immediate measures to protect the affected person.
All persons involved in the investigation of the case, such as the complainant, the person complained of, and persons/employees who may be examined, are obliged to maintain confidentiality and discretion and to also observe the rules on the protection of personal data for all details and information of which they become aware during the examination and investigation of the case.
Upon receipt of the complaint/report, the investigation and examination procedure begins immediately by the competent person who received it. The procedure followed is as follows:
1) Discussion between the competent person and the complainant.
Upon receipt of the complaint/report, the competent person calls the complainant, no later than within five (5) working days, to further discuss the case, and the complainant is obliged to attend this scheduled meeting.
During the discussion, the complainant is obliged to further develop and analyse the alleged facts before the competent person, while the competent person has the right to ask clarifying questions and receive answers from the complainant in order to be fully informed about the allegations. At the end of the discussion, the complainant is obliged to submit in writing all clarifications on the matter and sign them.
The competent person has the right, throughout the investigation procedure, to call the complainant for discussion, following the above formal procedure. The complainant also has a corresponding right to be heard by the competent person.
2) Calling the person complained of for information regarding the allegations, for submission of a written defence, etc.
Upon completion of the collection of information from the complainant, the competent person calls the person complained of within five (5) working days in order to inform them of the allegations and request that they submit, within five (5) working days, their written signed defence.
After submission of the defence by the person complained of, the competent person calls the person complained of for a discussion on the allegations and the person complained of is obliged to answer what they actually know. During the discussion, the competent person has the right to ask clarifying questions and receive answers from the person complained of in order to be fully informed about the allegations. At the end of the discussion, the person complained of is obliged to submit in writing all clarifications on the matter and sign them.
The competent person has the right, throughout the investigation procedure, to call the person complained of for discussion, following the above formal procedure. The person complained of also has a corresponding right to be heard by the competent person.
3) Calling other involved persons.
Within the framework of the investigation and examination of complaints, the competent person has the ability and the right to call for discussion any employee involved in each complaint or even any employee whom the competent person considers may provide useful information.
All involved persons are obliged to attend the scheduled discussion with the competent person. During the discussion, the involved persons must present to the competent person what they know about the alleged facts, while the competent person has the right to ask clarifying questions and receive answers from the involved persons in order to be fully informed about the allegations. At the end of the discussion, the person complained of is obliged to submit in writing all clarifications on the matter and sign them.
The competent person has the right, throughout the investigation procedure, to call the involved persons for discussion, following the above formal procedure. The involved persons also have a corresponding right to be heard by the competent person.
4) Collection of information by the competent person through access to company records.
For the collection of evidence and information during the examination of the complaint, the competent person may, following approval by the company’s Board of Directors, have access to company records, audiovisual material and other appropriate means for the verification of the allegations.
5) Collection/examination of all evidence/information and reports, and thorough/detailed briefing of the company’s Board of Directors.
The competent person is also obliged to fully inform the legal representative(s) of the company of every complaint received and of every new element/information that arises and becomes known regarding any complaint.
The competent person shall act and follow any procedure of this Policy following approval by the legal representative(s) of the company.
The competent person is also obliged, whenever requested, to fully and analytically inform the legal representative(s) and the Board of Directors of the company regarding any complaint.
III) Prohibition of retaliation against the affected person
The termination or dissolution in any way of the legal relationship on which the employment is based, as well as any other adverse treatment of a person under Article 3 of Law 4808/21, is prohibited and invalid if it constitutes retaliatory conduct or a countermeasure within the meaning of Article 14 of Law 3896/2010 for an incident of violence and harassment under Article 4 of Law 4808/21.
However, the above prohibition is not intended to protect persons who intentionally submit false and/or malicious complaints, since in such cases the company may take any legal measures against the above persons, and may even proceed with termination of their employment or cooperation contract.
IV) Consequences/Sanctions upon verification of breaches.
In the event of full or even partial confirmation of the allegations regarding a breach of the Policy against Violence and Harassment at Work, the company shall, on a case-by-case basis, take the necessary, appropriate and proportionate measures against the person complained of, in order to prevent and avoid the repetition of a similar incident or conduct.
These measures include in particular:
- Written or oral recommendation to comply,
- Strict written reprimand,
- Change of position, working hours, place or method of work,
- Temporary suspension from work for up to 10 days for each calendar year,
- Termination of the employment or cooperation relationship, subject to the prohibition of abuse of rights under Article 281 of the Greek Civil Code.
V) Cooperation and provision of any relevant information to the competent Authorities.
Our company as well as the competent person examining and managing the complaints under this Policy undertake to cooperate with and provide evidence and information to every competent public, administrative or judicial authority which, either ex officio or following submission of a request by an affected person, within the framework of its competence, requests the provision of evidence or information. For this purpose, any information collected in any form shall be kept in a relevant file in accordance with the provisions of Law 4624/2019.