Workplace Harassment (Mobbing) in Spain: Types, Evidence, and Legal Actions (2026)

Workplace harassment or mobbing consists of subjecting a worker to hostile and repeated conduct that attacks their dignity, creates an intimidating, degrading or offensive environment, and may cause damage to their physical and psychological health. No single legal provisión globally defines it as an offence; instead, its regulation is scattered across the ET (Workers' Statute (Estatuto de los Trabajadores)), the LISOS (Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order (Ley de Infracciones y Sanciones en el Orden Social)), the CP (Penal Code (Código Penal)) and the TREP (Revised Text of Employment Procedure Regulations).

1. Concept and Types

Legal Definition

Technical Criterion 69/2009 of the ITSS (Labour and Social Security Inspectorate, Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social) defines workplace harassment as "all negative behaviour between superiors or colleagues that, in a systematic and repeated manner, psychologically attacks one or more workers, causing damage to their health."

Essential elements:

1. Systematic nature: repeated and prolonged conduct (not isolated acts)
2. Psychological aggression: hostile, humiliating or discriminatory conduct
3. Purpose or effect: degrading the work environment or excluding the worker
4. Violation of rights: dignity, physical or moral integrity

Types by Active Subject

Downward vertical mobbing (bossing): the harasser is the hierarchical superior. The most common and most damaging form. Includes: assignment of degrading tasks, exclusión from meetings, public disparagement, pressure to resign.

Horizontal mobbing: the harasser is a colleague at the same or similar level. Includes: social isolation, rumour-spreading, sabotage of the victim's work.

Upward vertical mobbing: subordinates harass a superior. Less common; typically occurs when a new manager is rejected by the team.

Distinction from Other Concepts

Workplace harassment ≠ ordinary workplace conflict: not all stress, pressure or professional criticism constitutes mobbing. Case law requires systematic conduct, intent, and an impact on the worker's dignity.

Workplace harassment ≠ sexual harassment: sexual harassment (art. 184 CP) is sexual in nature; mobbing is psychological-occupational in nature. The two can coexist.

Workplace harassment ≠ discriminatory harassment (art. 28 LISOS): discriminatory harassment is based on a protected characteristic (sex, race, disability); mobbing may be motivated by other factors (personal, organisational, or an interest in the worker's absence on sick leave).

2. Legal Framework

Constitutional: arts. 10 (dignity), 15 (physical and moral integrity), 14 (equality) of the CE (Spanish Constitution (Constitución Española)).

Labour law (ET): art. 4.2.e) ET: right to respect for privacy and due consideration of dignity. Art. 50.1.a) ET: termination of the contract at the worker's initiative with unfair dismissal compensation where the employer seriously breaches their obligations.

Administrative sanctions: arts. 8.11 and 8.13 LISOS: very serious infringement punishable by a fine of €6,251 to €187,515.

Criminal law: art. 173.1 CP: anyone who inflicts "degrading treatment" that seriously undermines moral integrity may be sentenced to imprisonment of 6 months to 2 years. Workplace harassment falls within this provisión when it reaches a particular level of severity.

Risk prevention: the LPRL (Law on Occupational Risk Prevention (Ley de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales)) requires employers to assess psychosocial risk and adopt preventive measures (art. 15.1 LPRL). Failure to comply gives rise to liability.

3. How to Prove Workplace Harassment

Proving mobbing is the main practical challenge. The burden of proof lies with the worker (general rule), unless a violation of fundamental rights is alleged (art. 96 LRJS (Ley Reguladora de la Jurisdicción Social), Law Governing Social Jurisdiction → reversal of the burden of proof in discrimination cases).

Means of Evidence

Documentary:

• Emails, WhatsApp or Teams messages with hostile content (screenshots with metadata)
• Unjustifiably negative performance reviews
• Communications evidencing isolation or exclusión
• Sick leave certificates and diagnoses of anxiety/depression
• Records of internal requests or complaints (reports to HR)

Witness testimony: statements from colleagues who witnessed the harassment. The most compelling evidence but also the hardest to obtain (fear of retaliation).

Expert evidence:

• Psychological report establishing the harm and its causal link to the work environment
• Report from the occupational health physician (médico del trabajo) if the problem was documented
• Forensic psychologist's opinion in criminal proceedings

Inspectorate evidence: complaint filed with the ITSS, which may issue an infringement notice. The inspectorate's findings constitute documentary evidence in employment proceedings.

4. Available Legal Actions

Employment Law Action (Labour Court: Tribunal de Instancia de lo Social)

Claim for compensated termination (art. 50 ET): if the company fails to stop the harassment, the worker may terminate the contract and claim unfair dismissal compensation (33 days per year of service, máximum 24 monthly payments) plus compensation for non-material damage.

Claim for violation of fundamental rights (arts. 177–184 LRJS): an urgent and priority procedure. Allows the worker to seek annulment of the acts of harassment, immediate cessation, reparation for the harm suffered, and additional compensation.

Classification as a workplace accident: if the psychological harm is recognised as a workplace accident (accidente de trabajo), Social Security benefits are more generous (sick pay from day one, with no waiting period; permanent disability with a higher percentage of the regulatory base). The TGSS (General Treasury of Social Security (Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social)) may claim from the employer the cost of the benefits paid (benefits surcharge (recargo de prestaciones)).

Complaint to the ITSS

May be filed on a confidential basis. The ITSS investigates, may require the company to take action, and may issue a very serious infringement notice. This is not incompatible with judicial proceedings.

Criminal Route

Art. 173.1 CP: criminal complaint or formal accusation for degrading treatment. Requires that the conduct be of particular severity and persistent in nature. The victim may join the proceedings as a private prosecutor (acusación particular).

5. Case Law

STS (Chamber 4) 6 October 2009 (Tribunal Supremo: Supreme Court): establishes the defining criteria for workplace harassment in Spanish case law: systematic conduct, repetition, intent to exclude or cause harm, and impact on dignity.

STS 18 May 2021: a report from the occupational health physician documenting the worker's psychological condition constitutes sufficient evidence of the causal link between the work environment and the harm, without the need for additional forensic expert testimony.

STSJ Madrid 15 March 2022 (Tribunal Superior de Justicia: High Court of Justice, Madrid): company held liable for horizontal mobbing with a reversal of the burden of proof; the established indicators (emails, colleague testimony, sick leave for anxiety) are sufficient to shift the burden to the employer.

6. Practical Guide for Lawyers

First step: advise the client to preserve evidence before filing any complaint:

• Download emails in .eml format (with metadata)
• Take screenshots of chats showing the time and author
• Keep copies outside the company's systems

Recommended sequence:

1. Internal complaint to HR or the company's anti-harassment protocol (triggers the employer's duty to investigate)
2. Complaint to the ITSS (simultaneously or afterwards)
3. Employment law claim (following the inspectorate's findings or if the harassment continues)
4. Criminal complaint (if the severity warrants it)

Damages to quantify:

• Non-material damage: suffering, anxiety, loss of self-esteem
• Financial damage: medical expenses, psychological treatment costs, loss of earnings if the worker went on sick leave
• Physical damage: if the stress led to an organic condition

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Lexiel locates Supreme Court and High Court of Justice (TS and TSJ) case law on workplace harassment in similar sectors and circumstances, quantifies non-material damage compensation by reference to analogous cases, and drafts the claim before the Tribunal de Instancia de lo Social (Labour Court) or the complaint to the ITSS.