Seventeen years after the enactment of the framework legislation on Occupational Health and Safety (Legislative Decree 81/08), which already provided for a mandatory assessment of risks related to work-related stress, the regulatory landscape on workplace health and safety in Italy has taken a crucial step forward. An explicit and direct reference to violence and harassment has finally been introduced, calling for mandatory preventive and protective measures.
The entry into force of Legislative Decree No. 159 of October 31, 2025, marks a turning point in the field of prevention and protection against occupational risks in general and psychosocial risks in particular. Aimed at introducing urgent measures to increase the protection of workers’ health and safety, the new legislation explicitly focuses on the prevention of violent and harassing behaviors in the workplace.
Article 5, letter c, of the new Decree amends Article 15, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree 81/08 on general protection measures by adding a new paragraph which requires “the planning of measures to prevent violent or harassing behaviors against workers …”.
This specific reference will have a direct impact on risk assessment and management, reinforcing the general obligation set forth in Article 28 of Legislative Decree 81/08, by extending the assessment of work-related stress risk to the analysis of its determinants, which also include violence, mobbing, harassment, and discrimination.
This provision is a clear call to action for employers, placing on them an obligation to implement not only the traditional health and safety measures, but also specific programs to combat incidents of violence and harassment and to prevent any form of discrimination and discomfort that could undermine the dignity and physical and mental health of workers.