The provisions of the labor law clearly show that in certain cases the employer may be responsible for mobbing at the workplace, also in a situation where he did not directly participate in it. But what if such a situation occurred during an integration trip?
The Supreme Court in judgment II PK 341-15-1 replies that everything depends on the nature of the trip.
The quoted dispute concerned the alleged situation of employee sexual harassment that occurred during a business trip where alcohol was consumed. The woman fell asleep in the bed of a friend who had been sleeping next to her all night.
After this event, the woman got a long-term sick leave, she also benefited from mental health counseling due to severely disturbed psychosomatic and psychosocial functioning, with features of a maladaptive reaction that prevents her from performing basic social roles and diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder.
Interestingly, the dispute concerned employees of the National Labor Inspectorate. A former employee demanded that the employer pay compensation for discrimination in employment and sexual harassment of 50,000. zlotys. Criminal proceedings were conducted regarding the behavior of employees, but they were discontinued. Civil Procedure number of violations of personal rights was dismissed. Eventually, the case went to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court dismissed the cassation complaint and stated that everything that took place on such a trip was „non-employee” and could not be subject to the Labor Code. As the Supreme Court emphasized: „an employer is not a guardian of his employees’ morality outside of time and place of work, including during a private trip of employees on a foreign trip, therefore, due to the break of the time-local-causal relationship with employment, he is not responsible for the potential sexual harassment of a participant of such a trip by another participant in this private event. „
If we are dealing with a trip organized by employees of one workplace, but staying on vacation leave so that the employer is not a formal organizer of their departure, the case looks completely different than if it had been at the place and time of work. In this case, we are dealing with a private tour, in circumstances not related to employment relations. The Supreme Court also emphasized that the fact of alcohol consumption by tour members indicates that it cannot be qualified as a trip „during work”, as this would involve serious disciplinary responsibility.
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