Human dignity is like the air we breathe; it cannot be compromised. Compromising it is an act of violence. We experience such violence as muscular and physical pain as well as in the form of emotional and mental anxiety and stress. The preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted in 1948, states that ‘recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’. And Article 1 UDHR recognises that the right to human dignity flows from our humanity: ‘all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights’. Unlike other concepts and organising principles of our socio-political life, human dignity knows no nationality, race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age or ability.

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My favourite article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is Article 12:

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‘No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.’

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It is unfortunate that the European Convention on Human Rights (1950) did not repeat the exact formulation of Article 12 UDHR in Article 8 ECHR, the right to respect of personal and family life. But the European Union has managed to redress this deficit.

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Not only did the EU elevate human dignity into a general principle of EU law which must always be respected and observed, but its legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights has placed human dignity at the apex of the catalogue of rights. Read the Charter here.

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Article 1 EUCFR states: ‘Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.’

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This means that the right to human dignity is an absolute right, that is, it cannot be restricted by anyone and anything, even by legislation. Otherwise put, any interference with human dignity leads to a violation of the right.

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Conversely, Article 8 ECHR, which is used to protect personality rights, is not an absolute right; it can be restricted, provided that the restriction has a basis in law, it represents a measure necessary for a democratic society and does not constitute a disproportionate interference with it.

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The Member States of the EU have adopted specific legislative provisions to ensure the protection of dignity in the workplace and the condemnation of bullying and harassment.  Article 31 of the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights provides that: ‘Any worker has the right to benefit from working conditions which respect his or her health, security and dignity.’

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At work, we thus have the right to be treated with dignity, respect and courtesy and to be valued for our skills, abilities and contributions.  We have the right to be free from injury, be it physical and/or psychological and, for this reason, the workplace must be free from bullying, harassment or victimisation. We have the right to experience no form of discrimination and to be supported to progress and develop since our personal interest in realising our potential coincides with the organisation’s interest in being well-functioning, inclusive and dynamic.

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In Europe, Sweden was the first country to implement legislation specifically outlawing bullying at work in 1993. It outlawed ‘recurrent reprehensible or distinctly negative actions which are directed against individual employees in an offensive manner and can result in those employees being placed outside the workplace community’.

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France has been holding employers accountable for their involvement in repeated negative acts towards employees which lead to a deterioration of the working conditions and harm, or are likely to harm, their dignity, physical and mental health and/or professional career. France views bullying as ‘moral harassment’.

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In Spain workplace bullying became a criminal offence in June 2010 and is punished by imprisonment between six months and two years. The Spanish Penal Code makes it an offence ‘to take advantage of one’s superior position and to perform against another person repeated hostile or humiliating acts which without constituting degrading treatment involve serious harassment of the victim’.

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Whereas in all European countries, including the United Kingdom, workplace bullying based on protected characteristics, that is, on the prohibited discriminatory grounds, falls within the ambit of discriminatory harassment (the Equality Act 2010 in the UK), unlike other European countries, the UK has not outlawed bullying despite its immense harming effects.

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This must change. Post-Covid-19, the UK needs to complete the process of the adoption of the Dignity at Work Act. 

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Support the Dignity at Work Act

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