Mobbing and Legal Remedies: Protection of Employee Rights

Defined as systematic psychological harassment in the workplace, mobbing is a type of violation that can cause serious damage to an employee's professional life, health, and personal rights. In Turkish law, mobbing is evaluated under both labour law and general obligations law, and various legal remedies are available to affected employees. This guide examines the legal framework of mobbing and the routes available for redress.

What Is Mobbing

Mobbing is psychological pressure, intimidation, and exclusion behaviour applied in the workplace:

• Systematically and repeatedly,
• Over a sustained period,
• In a manner that harms the employee's personality, professional reputation, or health.

A single negative event does not constitute mobbing; the defining elements are continuity and systematic intent.

Types of Mobbing

Mobbing can manifest in various forms:

1. Communication Blocking

Withholding information from the employee, excluding them from meetings, removing them from email distribution lists.

2. Social Exclusion

Isolating the employee from colleagues, excluding them from work lunches, avoiding public contact with them.

3. Professional Attacks

Deliberately assigning impossible targets, assigning tasks designed to produce failure, persistent unjustified criticism.

4. Personal Attacks

Insult, ridicule, gossip, and intrusion into private life.

5. Health Threats

Excessive workload, denial of rest periods, forcing the employee to work in physically harmful conditions.

Legal Dimension of Mobbing

In Turkish law, mobbing:

• Constitutes an attack on the employee's personal rights within the scope of employment security,
• Amounts to a breach of the employer's obligation to protect the employee under the law of obligations,
• Violates the protection of personal rights guaranteed by the Constitution,
• May involve conduct that falls within the scope of criminal law (insult, threat) in specific situations.

Employee's Legal Routes

1. Termination of the Employment Contract on Justified Grounds

An employee who no longer wishes to remain in a mobbing environment:

• Can terminate the employment contract on justified grounds,
• Is entitled to severance pay,
• If a fixed-term contract exists, can claim wages for the remaining period.

Justified-ground termination requires that the mobbing be proven with concrete documentation.

2. Compensation Lawsuit

An employee can file a compensation lawsuit against the employer for:

• Non-pecuniary (moral) damages — violation of personal rights,
• Pecuniary (material) damages — health expenses, loss of earnings, losses resulting from difficulty in finding new employment.

3. Reinstatement Lawsuit

If the employee was forced to resign or was dismissed because of mobbing, they can file a reinstatement lawsuit. The mobbing claim serves as strong evidence of the invalidity of the termination.

4. Criminal Complaint

If the mobbing behaviour includes offences such as insult, threat, or sexual harassment, a criminal complaint can be filed with the Public Prosecutor's Office.

5. KVKK Complaint

If the employee's personal data is unlawfully processed in connection with the mobbing (secret recordings, unilateral monitoring, spreading of gossip), a complaint to the Personal Data Protection Board is possible.

Proof of Mobbing

A mobbing claim is among the most difficult-to-prove disputes in labour law. Available methods of proof include:

Written Documents

• Email correspondence,
• Messages (WhatsApp, internal company messaging),
• Performance evaluation reports containing unfair assessments,
• Disciplinary letters,
• Unjustified changes to the job description.

Witness Statements

Statements from colleagues are very valuable evidence; however, colleagues often fear the employer and are reluctant to testify. Former employees can be called as witnesses.

Medical Reports

Medical reports documenting psychological or physical illness suffered as a result of the mobbing:

• Psychiatric or psychologist reports,
• Hospital admission records,
• Medication prescriptions,
• Sick leave documentation.

Recordings

Audio recordings of verbal statements made by the employer or managers — under Turkish law, a person who records their own conversation produces admissible evidence; however, secret recordings of third-party conversations are restricted.

Expert Assessment

The court may request a mobbing assessment report from court-appointed experts or psychiatry specialists.

Obligations and Risks from the Employer's Perspective

The employer has a legal obligation to protect employees' personal rights. In response to mobbing claims:

1. Preventive Measures

• Establishing an anti-mobbing policy in the workplace,
• Setting up a complaint mechanism for employees,
• Training managers,
• Ensuring performance evaluation processes are objective.

2. When a Complaint Is Received

• Investigate the claim,
• Protect the complainant from retaliation,
• Conduct an impartial investigation,
• Take appropriate measures based on the outcome.

3. Risk: Compensation and Reputational Damage

Court decisions against the employer in mobbing lawsuits:

• Can give rise to significant compensation awards,
• Can seriously damage the company's employer brand,
• Set a precedent for other employees.

The Boundary Between Mobbing and Management Style

Not every demanding management style constitutes mobbing. Holding employees accountable, performance tracking, and criticism are a natural part of the right to manage. The boundary between mobbing and legitimate management is determined by:

• Continuity — a single event is not mobbing,
• Systematic intent — planned and repeated conduct,
• Attack on dignity — personal attacks that go beyond professional limits,
• Denying the employee any opportunity to adapt.

Labour courts carefully evaluate this boundary in each concrete case.

Special Considerations for Foreign Employees

Foreign employees can be:

• More exposed to mobbing due to language barriers,
• Subject to conduct that exploits cultural differences,
• Silent about the problem because they are unaware of their rights,
• Reluctant to complain for fear of work permit cancellation.

Mobbing cases involving foreign employees therefore require additional sensitivity; language and cultural support must often be arranged.

Complaint Mechanisms

Internal and external complaint routes available to employees include:

• Company HR department,
• Ethics committee (where one exists),
• Supervisory mechanisms under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security,
• Turkey Human Rights and Equality Institution,
• Public Prosecutor's Office (for conduct that constitutes a criminal offence),
• Labour Court (for compensation and termination claims).

Internal complaint routes should be attempted as a first step; if no result is obtained, external mechanisms can be pursued.

Legal Support

In Antalya, for employees suffering mobbing and employers facing mobbing claims, MONA HUKUK provides comprehensive legal support. For employees, this includes structuring the evidence, claiming earned compensation, and conducting the lawsuit; for employers, it includes preventive policy development, internal investigation guidance, and lawsuit defence.

Contact us at contact@monahukuk.com or call +90 (242) 606 14 32 to schedule a consultation in Antalya.