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Good practice Imported

Ley N.º 18.561 — Uruguay's Pioneering Workplace Sexual Harassment Law

Uruguay · Montevideo · See the Uruguay profile · See the Montevideo profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 42% 74/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Uruguay's 2009 sexual-harassment law gives workers in public and private employment the right to file complaints with the national Labour Inspectorate and guarantees minimum compensation and job protection — though officials say most incidents still go unreported.

601 complaints
Workplace and sexual harassment complaints registered (2025)
-31 %
Change in sexual-harassment complaints (2025 vs 2024)
-8 %
Change in general workplace-harassment complaints (2025 vs 2024)
6 months' salary
Minimum compensation for proven harassment (since 2009)
Ley N.º 18.561 — Uruguay's Pioneering Workplace Sexual Harassment Law

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Inspeccion General del Trabajo y de la Seguridad Social (IGTSS)
Period
2009-present
Keywords
labour law, occupational safety, gender-based violence prevention

Context

Ley N.º 18.561, enacted in 2009 and further regulated in 2017, was one of Latin America's first laws to specifically define and sanction sexual harassment in employment and teacher-student relationships, covering both public- and private-sector workplaces.

Objectives

It gives Uruguay's Inspección General del Trabajo y de la Seguridad Social (IGTSS) authority to receive and investigate complaints across the whole economy, with trade unions also empowered to receive and forward complaints on workers' behalf.

Activities

Victims found to have suffered harassment are entitled to minimum compensation equivalent to six months' salary, and any dismissal within 180 days of filing a complaint is legally presumed to be retaliatory.

Results

The IGTSS registered 601 complaints of workplace and sexual harassment combined in 2025. Sexual-harassment complaints specifically fell 31% and general workplace-harassment complaints fell 8% compared with 2024 — yet both remained above the average of the previous seven years, indicating a persistently high underlying caseload rather than a one-off spike.

Conclusions

KPMG's legal analysis cautioned that official numbers 'significantly undercount actual incidents': fear of losing one's job, shame, and the difficulty of confronting the situation keep many victims from ever filing a formal complaint. Uruguay also still has no dedicated statute for general workplace ('moral') harassment, addressed only through international conventions rather than domestic legislation.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — No published budget figures; band reflects enforcement through an existing national labour-inspection body across the whole economy.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — In force since 2009, further regulated in 2017 — a long-running national law.
Staffing & skills
Complaints received and investigated by the Inspección General del Trabajo y de la Seguridad Social (IGTSS), Trade unions are also empowered to receive and forward complaints on workers' behalf

Conditions for success

  • Victims are entitled to minimum compensation of six months' salary
  • Dismissal within 180 days of filing a complaint is legally presumed retaliatory, providing a job-protection backstop

Common failure modes

  • Official complaint numbers likely significantly undercount actual incidents, per KPMG Uruguay's analysis, due to fear of job loss, shame, and difficulty confronting the situation
  • Uruguay has no dedicated statute for general workplace ('moral') harassment, addressed only via international conventions

Where it fits

Governance type
national labour law enforced by the national labour inspectorate
Scale
national

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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