CMS has published an expert guide on sexual harassment at work and has done so by comparing different global legislations. 

2020 is a unique year that has changed the way lawyers work, making it an ideal time to promote a culture that will eradicate negative behaviour among employees. 

The guide produced by several CMS employees provides an accurate picture of how certain countries are evolving in the fight against harassment in the workplace. This guide provides information on jurisdictions as diverse as Peru, Austria, China, Russia, Singapore, Turkey and others.

The firm itself summarizes some significant data:

• Some countries take the approach of imposing a preventative duty on employers, with a few tackling harassment as part of their wider health and safety duties, by identifying and reducing risks. Both Belgium and the Netherlands take this approach, with employers in the Netherlands required to map all occupational health risks, including harassment in a risk inventory and evaluation plan.
• In Chile and Peru employers are obliged to notify their labour market authority about internal sexual harassment complaints. In Croatia an employer with 20 or more employees is required to appoint a dignity officer, responsible for handling all types of complaints from employees regarding violations of their dignity. Switzerland also require a trustworthy and impartial person to be appointed who can support victims of harassment, and in France companies with 250 or more employees must appoint a sexual harassment officer.
• The remedies available to employees also vary, for example in Germany, the employee who is affected by sexual harassment has the right to refuse to work without loss of pay if the employer takes unsuitable measures to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.
• There is no standard definition of sexual harassment although similarities do exist. Workplace harassment is known as mobbing in Montenegro. The term sexual harassment is not defined in Russian law, and protections there exist only in relation to sex discrimination, and workplace claims are rare. Similarly, in China there are few laws and regulations concerning sexual harassment.

You can read the full guide here.