Psychological harassment (mobbing) in the workplace

Certain facts which existed since ancient times, but which are only recently being defined, can also be found in working life. One of these facts is psychological harassment (mobbing). Psychological harassment (mobbing) expresses behaviors which violate personal rights of the employee, realized systematically by the employer, other employees or third persons for a continuous period of time with the purpose of intimidating, scorning and usually aiming to terminate work. Although there are no clear-cut provisions directly concerning mobbing towards employees in Turkish law, it cannot be said that there are no legal provisions prohibiting such actions. Mobbing, which had been dealt with before by foreign states legislation and international documents, has first been mentioned in court decisions approved by the High Court of Appeal. Code of Obligations No. 6098 brings along the obligation of taking necessary measures to protect employees from mobbing. Additionally, mobbing may be deemed as an abuse of personal rights, tort or breach of contract; and some acts may even be considered as a crime under the Turkish Criminal Law. Therefore, the victim may resort to certain legal remedies under the Turkish Civil Law, Turkish Labor Law and/or Turkish Criminal Law.