Harassment and Bullying at Work: Employer's Obligations, Your Three Courses of Action, and How to Compel an Investigation

You are here: At work → Offensive treatment

Bullying at work is not a feeling but a pattern: exclusion, withheld information, ridicule in front of others, unreasonable or meaningless tasks, constant monitoring, rumors. The law calls it offensive treatment and places the responsibility on the employer – not because the boss should be nice, but because offenses are an occupational health risk that causes sick leave. Your task is to make the pattern visible on paper and to activate the employer's obligations. You do this with a written report, not with a conversation in the corridor.

Three tracks that are often the same events

Employer's obligations according to AFS 2023:2

The regulations on planning and organizing work environment efforts replaced the previous rules on organizational and social work environment on January 1, 2025 (AFS 2015:4). The requirements are essentially the same but consolidated in Chapter 2:

• Clarify that abusive treatment is not accepted, preferably in a written policy (Section 10).
• Take measures against conditions that give rise to abuses: unclear roles, high workload, unresolved conflicts, lack of leadership (Section 10).
• Have procedures that specify who receives information about the occurrence of abusive treatment, what the recipient should do, and how and where the affected person can quickly get help. The procedures should be known to all employees (Section 11).
• Ensure that managers have the knowledge to prevent and manage abusive treatment (Section 4).
• Investigate the causes when someone suffers from ill health or when a serious incident occurs, according to the regulations on systematic work environment management (AFS 2023:1). Abuses that lead to sick leave are considered work-related ill health.

If your workplace lacks policies and procedures, this in itself is a deficiency that the safety representative can request action for and that the Swedish Work Environment Authority can issue an injunction about. Request the procedure in writing. The response—or silence—will be your first document.

Document the pattern

A single event is rarely abusive treatment; it is the repetition and direction that determine it. Therefore, the diary is your most important evidence.

Report that initiates the employer's responsibility

The employer's obligation to act begins when the employer knows. A conversation with the manager can be denied; a written report cannot. Send it to the person specified in the procedure (often HR or the immediate manager—but not to the person who is abusive), with a copy to the safety representative and preferably the union. Request confirmation and information on what happens next and when.

To: [HR / manager according to routine], copy: [safety representative], [union representative]
Subject: Report of abusive treatment

I report that I am subjected to abusive treatment at work according to Chapter 2, Sections 10–11 of AFS 2023:2.

Events (excerpt from my documentation, a complete diary can be provided to the investigator):
1. [date] – [what happened, who was present]
2. [date] – [ ... ]
3. [date] – [ ... ]

Consequences for me: [missing information, removed work tasks, sleep difficulties, sick leave …]

[If applicable:] I perceive that the treatment is related to [ground of discrimination] and therefore also report it as harassment according to the Discrimination Act, with a request for investigation and measures according to Chapter 2, Section 3.

I request
1. written confirmation that the report has been received,
2. information on who is investigating, how, and within what time frame,
3. information on what support I am offered during the investigation,
4. that the employer's routine for abusive treatment is sent to me,
5. that during the investigation I do not have to work alone with [name] / that [specific protective measure].

[Name, date]

What a proper investigation is

The regulations do not specify in detail how the investigation should be conducted, but the general guidelines and the Swedish Work Environment Authority's guidance provide the standard: the investigation should be prompt, conducted by someone with sufficient competence and impartiality (not the accused manager or their superior), hear all involved parties, be documented and lead to measures and feedback to the affected person. An “inadequate investigation procedure” can, according to the Swedish Work Environment Authority, be harmful in itself. This gives you the right to make demands:

• Who is investigating, and what is that person's relationship to those involved?
• What is the timeline?
• Do you get to read and comment on what is said about you?
• What support do you receive during the process – occupational health services, changed working conditions, protection from contact?
• How and when will you be informed of conclusions and measures?

If the employer discontinues the investigation or concludes “word against word” without action: request the decision in writing with justification. The safety representative can then make a formal request for measures according to Chapter 6, Section 6 a of the Work Environment Act, which the employer must respond to in writing and which otherwise goes to the Swedish Work Environment Authority for an injunction. The Swedish Work Environment Authority does not investigate individual abuses and does not take a position on who is right, but can compel the employer to have and follow routines, investigate and address risks. Read safety representative and incident.

When the boss is the one harassing

The procedure should specify whom you should contact when the immediate supervisor is the problem – often the supervisor's superior, HR, or a designated function. If no such path exists: write to the supervisor's superior and HR simultaneously, with a copy to the safety representative. The safety representative can act regardless of who is harassing, and a regional safety representative from the union can be involved where a local representative is absent or dependent on the supervisor. In small companies where the owner is harassing, the union and the Swedish Work Environment Authority are practically the only external avenues – and in cases of harassment with a discrimination connection, the Equality Ombudsman (DO) and the court.

Sick leave, occupational injury, and compensation

• Sick leave is sometimes necessary. It does not remove the employer's obligation to investigate, and it should not become a reassignment in disguise. Request that the investigation continues while you are on sick leave and that you receive feedback.
• Occupational injury. Mental health issues resulting from abusive treatment can be an occupational disease. The employer is obliged to report occupational injuries to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Chapter 42, Section 10 of the Social Insurance Code) – request that it is done, or report it yourself via the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Also report to AFA Insurance if the employer has a collective agreement; the TFA safety insurance can provide compensation for occupational diseases caused by abusive treatment if the Swedish Social Insurance Agency has approved it as an occupational injury.
• Discrimination compensation for harassment and lack of investigation: demand it via the union or the Equality Ombudsman (DO), or file a lawsuit yourself in the district court. The deadline is two years from the incident for harassment (Chapter 6, Sections 4–5 of the Discrimination Act; follows the Employment Protection Act deadlines if it concerns dismissal).
• Damages for abusive treatment that is not discrimination are not found in the Work Environment Act. The path to compensation is then occupational injury insurance, or – in severe cases – damages in criminal proceedings.

Sources

• AFS 2023:2 Planning and Organization of Work Environment Management, Chapter 2, Sections 10–11 (harassment)
• AFS 2023:1 Systematic Work Environment Management – investigation of ill health and incidents
• Swedish Work Environment Authority: harassment
• Work Environment Act Chapter 6, Section 6 a – safety representative's request
• Discrimination Act Chapter 1, Section 4, Chapter 2, Sections 3 and 18, Chapter 5, Section 1, Chapter 6, Sections 4–5
• Equality Ombudsman: report discrimination
• Swedish Social Insurance Agency: report occupational injury
• AFA Insurance – occupational injury insurance (TFA)

The guide is general information about applicable rules, not advice on your case. Collective agreements may deviate from the law on several points. Legal status checked on September 25, 2026.

For those reading under stress

The guide is intended as support when you already have a lot on your mind. You do not need to read everything at once: start with the section that matches where you are today and return when the next step becomes relevant.

Matters with authorities rarely improve when you handle everything alone. Seek help from a support person, lawyer, or relative if you can—especially before decisions with long-term effects.

Common mistakes that make the case more difficult

• Relying solely on verbal promises without a brief written confirmation or follow-up email.
• Delaying the request for documents until the conflict is already locked—then it becomes harder to demonstrate what was said.
• Writing so extensively and emotionally that the authority stops responding to the substantive issue.
• Missing deadlines for reconsideration or appeal because the decision was not read verbatim.

Mini-checklist before you leave the guide

1. Do I have the date, diary/case number, and the name of the person handling the case (if you know)?
2. Do I know what the next step is: respond, request, remind, appeal, or report?
3. Have I saved emails and attachments in a place where I can find them in a week?