Yoon Mi-hyang, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Environment and Labor Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th, greeting fellow lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] On the 22nd, Yoon Mi-hyang, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that she has proposed an amendment to the Labor Standards Act to expand the scope of application of the Workplace Harassment Prevention Act.
Under the current Labor Standards Act, the Workplace Harassment Prevention Act applies only to harassment by employers and workers within the workplace and is limited to workplaces with five or more regular employees.
The amendment aims to regulate workplace harassment by third parties, such as contractors with workplace interests and relatives within the fourth degree of kinship of the employer. The scope of application is also expanded to workplaces with four or fewer regular employees.
The amendment also includes provisions to strengthen the role of the Ministry of Employment and Labor. It places the primary obligation to investigate on the employer, and the Ministry has internal guidelines for labor inspectors to directly investigate and recommend improvements to workplaces when it is difficult to expect appropriate investigation and measures from the employer. However, it is pointed out that specific improvement measures, such as explicitly stating this in the law, need to be prepared on the ground.
The amendment specifies that reports of workplace harassment can be made directly to the Minister of Employment and Labor. The Minister will monitor whether the employer’s measures are appropriate and can issue corrective orders if the employer’s investigation and measures are insufficient. It also strengthens sanctions against workplace harassment and mandates harassment prevention education.
Yoon also proposed an amendment to the Subcontracting Act. It prohibits the principal contractor or workers employed by the principal contractor from causing physical or mental distress or worsening working conditions beyond an appropriate scope in business to subcontractors or workers employed by subcontractors by exploiting their superior position or relationship in transactions.
Yoon stated, “In reality, it is difficult to expect appropriate measures from the employer when the perpetrator of workplace harassment is a special relation of the employer, such as a contractor or the employer’s relative, and nearly 60% of workplace harassment reports occur in small workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, so it is necessary to expand the scope of applicable workers to all workers.”
She added, “Since workplace harassment causes serious issues regarding workers’ human rights and health rights, our society needs to pay more careful attention to the reality where workers who suffer from workplace harassment not only complain of mental distress but also sometimes take extreme measures.”
In addition to Yoon, the Labor Standards Act amendment was co-proposed by Kim Seung-won, Yang Yi-won-young, Oh Young-hwan, Yoo Jeong-ju, Yoon Jun-byeong, Lee Su-jin (proportional representation), Lee Tan-hee, Lee Hak-young, Jin Seong-jun, and Hwang Un-ha. The Subcontracting Act amendment was co-proposed by Kim Seung-won, Yang Yi-won-young, Oh Young-hwan, Yoo Jeong-ju, Yoon Jun-byeong, Lee Tan-hee, Lee Hak-young, Jin Seong-jun, and Hwang Un-ha, respectively.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
