When should an employer look away from signs of workplace bullying, and when must it step in? Two rulings by German labour courts draw that line, according to the German trade publication Haufe Arbeitsschutz. According to Haufe, the cases show that employers must act on concrete warning signs, but not every workplace conflict automatically amounts to mobbing with a right to compensation.
When must an employer step in?
The Landesarbeitsgericht (regional labour court) of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, ruled that an employer must act as soon as it receives concrete indications that an employee is being discriminated against or that their personality rights are being violated. Looking away is not an option. According to Haufe, this duty of protection follows from the employer’s general duty of care and from Germany’s Works Constitution Act (§ 75 Abs. 2 BetrVG). An employer who knew about mobbing and did nothing can be held liable for it.
What counts as mobbing in law?
At the same time, a ruling by the Arbeitsgericht (labour court) in Mannheim, Germany, stresses that not every workplace conflict is mobbing. In that case, the employer demonstrated that there was no mobbing; according to the court, conflict at work is unavoidable, and mobbing only begins with intimidation, hostility and humiliation. “Mobbing” is, moreover, not a legal term with a statutory definition. The Bundesarbeitsgericht (BAG), Germany’s highest labour court, describes it as the systematic hostile treatment, harassment or discrimination of employees by colleagues or supervisors. In 2018, the General Court of the European Union emphasised that improper conduct must occur repeatedly or systematically over a longer period for it to qualify. Lawful instructions from a supervisor do not count as mobbing unless they are clearly arbitrary and harassing.
Liability and compensation
Anyone identified as the bully can, depending on the severity, receive a reprimand, a formal written warning, a transfer or, in the most serious cases, dismissal. For victims, the picture is more complicated: Germany’s General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) only protects against disadvantage based on characteristics such as race, ethnic origin, religion or belief, age, sex, disability or sexual identity. Where mobbing occurs outside those grounds, victims must fall back on general principles developed through case law. Victims can claim damages under the AGG, the employment contract or tort law. Employers can also be held liable for the misconduct of supervisors. Where health or personality rights are harmed, compensation for pain and suffering (Schmerzensgeld) is possible; Haufe does not cite any amounts. In practice, however, many claims fail because the facts are too vaguely substantiated or because the concept of mobbing is interpreted too broadly.
Context
The EU Framework Directive 89/391/EEC has required employers across the European Union to manage occupational risks preventively and adapt work to the person since 1989. According to a 2014 European Commission interpretative document, all these obligations also apply to risks to mental health, including psychosocial risk assessments. Harassment and violence at work are also addressed in the 2007 European framework agreement of the social partners, which is primarily aimed at raising awareness. Member states implement this differently, EU-OSHA reports: Belgium, Germany and Italy, among others, explicitly require a psychosocial risk assessment, while countries such as Spain, Poland and Slovenia limit themselves to what the Framework Directive prescribes.
The rulings illustrate a tension that employers worldwide recognise through comparable duties of care in their own occupational health and safety legislation: picking up and investigating signs of bullying in good time, without immediately labelling every workplace conflict as mobbing. A carefully documented anti-bullying and harassment policy, with a clear reporting and investigation procedure, helps maintain that balance and limit liability.
Source: Duty of care in mobbing cases: limits and consequences, 6 October 2026
Additional research: EU-OSHA OSHwiki: Policy, law and guidance on psychosocial issues at the workplace – an EU perspective
