City employee awareness campaign
On 4 March 2024, the College of the Mayor and Aldermen, the staff delegation for civil servants and municipal workers, and the staff delegation for employees, signed a new agreement on preventing and dealing with sexual and psychological harassment. This agreement highlights the City of Luxembourg's efforts to prevent and eradicate all forms of sexual and psychological harassment within the municipal administration, and to foster a healthy work environment and respectful relations between City of Luxembourg staff members.
Drawing on feedback gained over more than 10 years on the procedure for dealing with harassment, and further to recent changes to legislation on this matter, the City and staff representatives revised the former August 2010 agreement to highlight more specifically the responsibilities and the inappropriate behaviour of those who engage in harassment, and particularly sexual harassment. In addition, the new procedure allows anyone who has witnessed the sexual harassment of another person to share their observations with a confidential adviser; recognises the psychological damage inflicted on victims of sexual harassment; provides for the option for victims to undergo treatment by a specialised therapist recognised by the City; and facilitates intervention by department managers and the Human Resources Directorate to put a stop to any inappropriate behaviour as quickly as possible.
Prevention and response
Step-by-step procedure for dealing with psychological and sexual harassment
- Contact
- Consultation with the expert
- Mediation or intervention within the department concerned
- Referral to the Harassment Committee
- Decision and follow-up of the case
Harassment Committee
- Composition of the Committee
- How Harassment Committee meetings work
- Duties of the Harassment Committee
Preventing sexual harassment
- Management training
- Staff information and awareness
The City's in-house campaigns
2024 campaign
Following on from a number of conferences on harassment, held during the Sécherheets- a Gesondheetswochen 2023 – a series of courses and workshops on health and safety at work – and further to the signing of the new agreement, the City is now running an awareness campaign aimed at all staff members.
As an ardent defender of a zero-tolerance approach to harassment, the City is distributing to all staff members a series of posters and a brochure on the topic that recall the legal basis for prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace, explain the new procedure for preventing and dealing with harassment, and provide advice for victims and witnesses of inappropriate behaviour.
Training in managing psychosocial risks
To do more to prevent psychosocial risks, the City is implementing a training programme for department heads and correspondents for personnel matters. These sessions, which are coordinated by the Health-Prevention and Diversity Department (Département Prévention-Santé et Diversité – PSD) and the Human Resources Directorate, aim to educate managers about the main psychosocial risks, explain internal procedures, provide them with a list of contact people, and offer them guidance in managing sensitive situations.
The training sessions cover sexual harassment, sexism, racism and other forms of discrimination, psychological harassment, mental health, addictions, and situations of violence and aggression. Each topic is addressed in an information and awareness campaign directed towards all staff members, with the goal of fostering a respectful, healthy and inclusive work environment.
