Bullying and harassment should be treated seriously in Mauritius. There isn’t a law that directly condemns bullying in Mauritius. However, there is The Workers’ rights Act 2019 Section 114 that addresses bullying at work.
There is a difference between bullying and harassment. Section 114 of the Workers’ Rights Act 2019 clearly differentiates between the two terms:
“bullying” includes a pattern of offensive, intimidating, malicious, insulting or humiliating behaviour or an abuse or misuse of power or authority which attempts to undermine an individual or group of individuals, gradually eroding their confidence and capacity which may cause them to suffer stress;
“harassment”, in relation to a worker, includes any unwanted conduct towards the worker, whether verbal, non-verbal, visual, psychological or physical, based on age, impairment, HIV status, domestic circumstances, sex, sexual orientation, gender, race, colour, language, religion, political, trade union or other opinion or belief, national or social origin, association with a minority, birth or other status, which occurs in circumstances where a reasonable person would consider the conduct as harassment of the worker;
An offender can be liable to a fine not exceeding Rs 100,000 and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.
As of 1st January 2019, all workplace organisations in Quebec, Canada have to implement by law, a policy of workplace bullying prevention measures. They should also compulsorily set a system of complaints to tackle workplace bullying.
Section 26 of the Children’s Act 2020 addresses bullying and states that no one shall bully a child. Bullying a child (that is, a person below 18 years old) is a serious offense and the offender is liable to a fine not exceeding Rs 1 million and a term of imprisonment not exceeding ten years. Schools have the moral and legal duty to protect their students from any bullying and make them feel safe. An employee who didn’t help a bullied student is liable to a fine not exceeding Rs 200,000 and a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years.
Hence, bullying and harassment are serious offences punishable by law. These offences should by no means be trivialised or normalised.
Bibliography
Government Gazette of Mauritius. “A Consolidated Version of the Workers’ Rights Act 2019 (as at 5 August 2021) Section 114 Violence at Work”. https://labour.govmu.org/Documents/Legislations/THE%20WORKERS%20RIGHTS%20Act%202019/A%20consolidated%20Version%20of%20the%20Workers%27%20Rights%20Act%202019%20as%20at%205%20August%202021.pdf?csf=1&e=4koZZo
LEGAL SUPPLEMENT to the Government Gazette of Mauritius No. 156 of 19 December 2020. “THE CHILDREN’S ACT 2020 Act No. 13 of 2020”. https://mauritiusassembly.govmu.org/Documents/Acts/2020/act132020.pdf
L’Ordre des administrateurs agréés du Québec (ADMA). 12 August 2022. “Les conseils d’administration face au harcèlement”.
https://portail.adma.qc.ca/expose/presentationExpose.cnx?idExpose=AKAA7AB1F573DEF6FBEAKA&idInscription=AKADAEF7D19E8C1C2E3AKA