Workplace Bullying and Harassment in Ireland: Your Legal Rights (2025)
Workplace bullying and harassment are serious issues in Irish workplaces. If you are experiencing behaviour that is undermining your dignity, damaging your wellbeing, or making your working environment intolerable, you have significant legal rights under Irish law. This guide explains what bullying and harassment mean legally, what protections you have, and what steps to take.
Workplace Bullying Under Irish Law
Under the Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work (2021), workplace bullying is defined as: repeated inappropriate behaviour, direct or indirect, whether verbal, physical or otherwise, conducted by one or more persons against another or others, at the place of work or in the course of employment, which could reasonably be regarded as undermining the individual’s right to dignity at work.
Key elements: the behaviour must be repeated (a single incident is not bullying, though it may be harassment), inappropriate, and must undermine dignity at work.
Harassment and Sexual Harassment
Harassment is distinct from bullying. Under the Employment Equality Acts 1998–2015, harassment is unwanted conduct related to one of the nine protected grounds (gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, and membership of the Traveller community) that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment.
Sexual harassment is a specific form of harassment of a sexual nature — unwanted verbal, non-verbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
Employer Obligations
Employers in Ireland have a legal duty to provide a safe workplace under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. This includes protecting employees from bullying and harassment. Employers must:
- Have a dignity at work / anti-bullying policy in place
- Take complaints of bullying and harassment seriously and investigate properly
- Take appropriate action where bullying or harassment is established
- Ensure the complaint process is confidential and fair
What to Do If You Are Being Bullied or Harassed
- Keep a record: Document every incident — dates, times, what was said or done, who was present
- Use the informal process: In many cases, raising the issue informally with the person concerned or your HR department can resolve the matter quickly
- Make a formal complaint: If the informal approach fails or is inappropriate, submit a formal written complaint to HR or your employer under their dignity at work policy
- WRC complaint: If internal processes fail, you can refer a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission. For harassment under the Employment Equality Acts, you must do so within 6 months (extendable to 12 in exceptional circumstances)
- Personal injury claim: In serious cases, you may have a claim for personal injury (stress and psychiatric injury) arising from the bullying or harassment
Constructive Dismissal and Workplace Bullying
If the bullying or harassment is so severe that you feel you have no option but to resign, you may have a constructive dismissal claim under the Unfair Dismissals Acts. These cases require careful handling — get legal advice before resigning.
If you are experiencing workplace bullying or harassment, don’t suffer in silence. Book a 30-minute consultation with one of our employment solicitors — confidential, fixed fee, and fast. Also see our unfair dismissal guide and redundancy rights guide.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
