Background:

Ministerial Agreement No. MDT-2025-102, published in the Official Registry on September 4, 2025, establishes that workplace violence and harassment must be considered as such from the very first occurrence, without the need for repetitive conduct.

Article 18 of the Agreement provides:

“Art. 18.- On violence and harassment in the workplace. Violence and harassment in labor matters refers to all types of unacceptable behaviors and practices, including threats, recognized in the Constitution, this law, or special laws in favor of human beings and conceived as violence, which occur once or repeatedly, and which result or may result in physical, psychological, sexual, economic, political, symbolic, or digital harm against a worker, including gender-based violence and harassment or harassment based on discriminatory reasons (…).”

This provision reflects a comprehensive approach to labor protection, ensuring that any type of harassment, even if it occurs only once, must be effectively addressed through the application of the necessary sanctions to protect workers.

Constitutional Court’s Decision:

In Judgment No. 99-22-IN/26, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador issued a key decision regarding the definition and treatment of workplace harassment, particularly concerning the requirement that harassment acts be repetitive. In its ruling, the Court:

1.Declared the additive unconstitutionality of the second paragraph of Article 46.1 of the Labor Code, which shall henceforth provide:

“Workplace violence and harassment includes conduct that undermines a person’s dignity, committed once or repeatedly, and potentially harmful, occurring in the workplace or at any time against one of the parties to the employment relationship or among workers, resulting in impairment, mistreatment, humiliation, or threatening or affecting the acquired rights and labor situation of the person subjected to workplace violence or harassment.”

2. Declared the additive unconstitutionality of the second paragraph of the article following Article 24 of the Organic Law on Public Service, which shall henceforth provide:

“Workplace violence and harassment includes conduct that undermines a person’s dignity, committed once or repeatedly, and potentially harmful, occurring in the workplace or at any time against one of the parties to the employment relationship or among workers and/or public servants, resulting in impairment, mistreatment, humiliation, or threatening or affecting the acquired rights and labor situation of the person subjected to workplace violence or harassment.”

Through this judgment, the Constitutional Court established an important precedent by confirming that workplace harassment may be considered and sanctioned based on a single act, without requiring repeated conduct. This decision reaffirms the provisions already established in prior regulations, such as Ministerial Agreement No. MDT- 2025-102, which recognized that harassment may arise from a single incident without repetition. The Court has now ratified this approach, ensuring a broader and more protective interpretation of workers’ rights.

This decision has a significant impact on the interpretation of labor laws in Ecuador, particularly regarding the protection of workers’ rights against harassment. With the elimination of the “repetition” requirement, employers must adopt stricter and clearer measures to prevent and sanction any form of workplace harassment from the very first incident, thereby avoiding situations that may violate workers’ rights.

Should you require additional information, please contact us at: laboral@bustamantefabara.com

Prepared by:
• Dr. Francisco Vacas: fvacas@bustamantefabara.com
• Atty. Emilia Montalvo: emontalvo@bustamantefabara.com