Defenceless against bullying in the public sector: the forgotten employees

By Christian Block, Lex Kleren Switch to German for original article

More than 15,000 state and municipal employees have less protection in the event of bullying than civil servants or employees in the private sector. A legal loophole prevents the labour inspectorate from intervening at all. The government wants to tackle the problem, but this is of little help to those affected, as the case study from the University of Luxembourg shows.

Anyone who works at the University of Luxembourg and wanted to report bullying in recent months could receive a surprising answer: The labour inspectorate is not responsible.

This is indicated by a parliamentary question that LSAP MP Liz Braz addressed to the Ministry of Labour in mid-April. It states that the ITM was reluctant to intervene in such cases because the University of Luxembourg is a public institution. In other words, the labour inspectorate's hands are tied.

The university and its employees are by no means an isolated case. More than 15,000 state and municipal employees are affected by the legal loophole: from government administrations and institutions such as the Council of State to ITM itself. This also includes schools and public institutions such as the University of Luxembourg.

The reason: public employees are covered by the provisions of the Labour Code. However, because the Labour Code provides for exceptions for employees in the public sector, the ITM has no legal authority to carry out inspections there. As a result, it cannot intervene as part of the procedure introduced by the legislator in 2023 to prevent workplace bullying.

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