“On Monday morning, after two weeks off, the CEO and I have a review. He doesn’t speak and starts writing an email with all the points I’m accused of, which include ‘didn’t work during his holiday’.” This testimony is one of those relayed on the Instagram page @balancetastartupluxembourg.

Created on 21 March, it follows the model of the French accounts Balancetastart-up (194,000 followers) and Balancetonagency (333,000 followers): these invite users to send in private message testimonies anonymously. The aim is to lift the silence on abuse in the workplace. On Wednesday 20 April the account had 1,664 subscribers, a day later, the number had grown to 2,079.

The method of the account, which names and shames companies, however is debated.

“I was following the French account and I didn’t suspect so much abuse in the professional world, in companies that were familiar to me,” says its founder, who wishes to remain anonymous: “From a personal point of view, I was a victim of bullying at work. A few weeks ago, I was talking about it with former colleagues who had suffered the same thing and we said to each other: ‘Why not try’.” They opened a Luxembourg account.

Testimonies that call for others

After publishing three individual testimonies, out of the fifteen or so received in less than a month, the account decided to move on to the next stage on Friday 15 April. It revealed the name of a company often appearing in testimonies: RH Expert, which had adopted a in March. as reported by Delano’s sister publication Paperjam.

“I’m not here to satisfy the thirst for gossip, to make propaganda or to pin down companies that have made a mistake once,” says the Instagram account founder. According to her, it takes five testimonies from employees of the same company, going in the same direction, for her to be swayed. In this case, she had initially received eight. She checked that in each case the person is currently working (for two of the eight) or previously worked (for the other six) at the company in question. “Some sent me a business card, one person even sent me his pay slip. In other cases, it is through their LinkedIn account. It’s up to the individual.” The young woman also looks at reviews left on the internet about the company on sites like Glassdoor.

Of course, any company that is singled out can claim a right of reply on the account.

After the publication of RH Expert’s name, some twenty new anonymous testimonials were published, from former employees as well as from trainees, contractors or students at the HR Academy.

“It is unbelievably violent. It’s hard,” says the management of RH Expert, interviewed by Paperjam. They describe the testimonies as slander. “It would seem that it is more a settling of scores than anything else,” with the aim of “destroying” the company.

RH Expert says they have not received any complaints, contrary to what the founder of the Instagram page says: “For 60 employees, we have two full-time HRs, a sponsor, an ethics charter signed on arrival, nine managers and a delegation chairman invited to every meeting, so normally we have places to talk in confidence.” Faced with the many comments from dissatisfied trainees, RH Expert intends in any case to “systematise the exit interview”. For the rest, “we have asked our lawyers to do what is necessary.”

Risks of defamation

“The problem with anonymous statements is that they can be both false and true, and can lead to defamation,” says Nadia Chouhad, a lawyer specialising in employment law. In this case, she believes that the responsibility lies with the person who publishes the text, i.e. the manager of the Instagram account. If the latter cannot prove either the veracity of the facts or that they have done everything possible to verify them, they could be sentenced to between eight days and a year in prison and fined between €250 and €2,000.

In the case of harassment at work, the lawyer advises the employee instead to warn their employer, as the latter then has a legal obligation to investigate. This can be done with the manager as well as the human resources manager. Mail or letter are preferable to keep a written record.

No solution

Generally speaking, Chouhad finds it positive to lift the silence on harassment at work. But “the concept of ratting out the company is risky.”

For lawyer Guy Castegnaro, also specialised in labour law, the account allows “the exercise of freedom of expression by the employee, who is generally considered as the ‘weak party’ in the employment contract and who can often only defend himself with great difficulty in matters of discrimination or harassment.”

On the other hand, the method used does not give the employer the opportunity, in the first instance, to defend themselves. Castegnaro also points out the “lack of respect for the presumption of innocence” and “the risk of violation of the obligation of loyalty and confidentiality by the employee, who is exposed to a possible liability action against him or her, or even to dismissal for serious misconduct.”

The lawyer adds that this does not, in the end, provide “any direct concrete solution to the problem” for the employee who denounces the facts.

Bullying group is doubtful

Bullying association Mobbing.lu confirms the controversial aspect of the method. “It’s a very delicate subject, with pros and cons,” says Magdalena Mida, director of the association that supports employees who are confronted with harassment at work. “It’s good because it’s an important subject that is not talked about enough in Luxembourg.” A , but is still waiting to be voted on.

The attention paid by the founder of the account to the anonymisation of testimonies (with hidden parts in the published messages) also seems positive to her. “On the other hand, we have to be careful not to use hate against hate. The passive/aggressive side is not necessarily the most constructive way. It creates risks of fake news, for example from competitors who want to destroy the company.” This does not serve the cause, she says.

In case of bullying, the group advises “not to isolate oneself and seek help” from one’s general practitioner or psychologist. The association also offers consultations at a cost of €30. Mida also advises people to find out about internal company procedures, for example from the staff delegation. If possible, “talk to the person directly and say ‘I don’t feel well, can we find a solution?’ In the end, communication will always help.”

When asked about possible controls in the companies singled out by the Instagram account, the Labour and Mines Inspectorate (ITM) says that it “takes every suspicion of harassment seriously” and “in case of justified suspicions, makes the necessary controls.” The ITM also advises employees to contact it via the telephone line 24 77 61 00 or by e-mail at contact@itm.etat.lu.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.