Sexual Harassment Against Apprentices in Hotels and Restaurants

The Danish Institute for Human Rights has examined the challenges experienced by apprentices in Danish hotels and restaurants in relation to sexual harassment in the workplace.

The report is based on a survey questionnaire and a legal review of relevant rules and actors in the field of vocational training.

The survey questionnaire has been conducted among apprentices in three lines of education: gastronome, waiter, and receptionist. It sheds light on the extent and nature of the harassment and uncovers who the victims and perpetrators are. Attention is also paid to the knowledge that apprentices hold about sexual harassment and how to manage it.

Main conclusions

First and foremost, the survey documents that there is a considerable extent of sexual harassment against apprentices in Danish hotels and restaurants. More than every fifth apprentice has been exposed to sexual harassment.

It also shows that the apprentices lack knowledge and clarity in relation to the prevention and management of sexual harassment. The responsibility for the prevention and management of sexual harassment in the apprenticeship is blurred seen from the perspective of the apprentice.

The legal review of the protection against sexual harassment as an apprentice shows that it spreads out across four different legislative frameworks that overlap and have each their purpose, administration and enforcement: Law on Equal Treatment, Law on Vocational Training, Law on the Working Environment, and Law on the Educational Environment.

The legal overlap and the shared responsibility create a situation where the apprentice will get the impression that the responsibility for the management of sexual harassment against apprentices fall between chairs.

Recommendations

Based on the results of this study, the Danish Institute for Human Rights recommends that:

• The Danish minister of education obligates the schools for vocational training to establish emergency counselling services with a view to ensure social, personal, psychological, and legal support for apprentices exposed to sexual harassment in their workplace.
• The Danish minister of education specifies §42 of the Law on vocational training so that the professional council is granted a clear competence to conduct inspection and supervision in matters pertaining to equal treatment and the working environment (including sexual harassment).
• The Danish minister of education amends the Order on professional councils and their management of cases relating to the certification of businesses to offer apprenticeships to allow for a situation where workplaces can be deprived of their right to offer apprenticeships, if they have been convicted of sexual harassment.
• The Labour Inspection conducts a thorough review of all their guidelines and tools with a view to ensure that the Working Environment Assessment (APV in Danish) is an efficient mechanism to identify and prevent sexual harassment against apprentices in workplaces.

Find the full English summary on page 8 in the report