Human Rights Commission: "The Scope of 'Workplace Harassment' Should Be Expanded and Punishment Regulations Introduced"

National Human Rights Commission of Korea building. Photo by Human Rights Commission

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) received a response from the Ministry of Employment and Labor regarding the improvement plan for the "Workplace Bullying Prohibition Act" (amended Labor Standards Act) recommended to the Minister of Employment and Labor last year. The ministry expressed a 'partial acceptance' opinion. However, the NHRCK emphasized the need to expand the scope of workplace bullying and introduce punishment regulations for perpetrators.

On the 20th, the NHRCK stated, "It is desirable that the Ministry of Employment and Labor partially accepted the NHRCK's recommendations and plans to reflect them in future policy decisions and implementation," but added, "Even though it has been one year and six months since the relevant regulations were introduced, workplace bullying remains widespread, and limitations of the legal system are being pointed out."

In July last year, the NHRCK recommended to the Minister of Employment and Labor four points: ▲ protection of workers from bullying by third parties ▲ expansion of application to workplaces with four or fewer employees ▲ introduction of punishment regulations for perpetrators ▲ mandatory workplace bullying prevention education.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor accepted the mandatory workplace bullying prevention education but responded with a 'partial acceptance' opinion, stating that the expansion of application to workplaces would be reviewed in the mid to long term, and the punishment regulations for perpetrators were rejected due to concerns about violating the principle of legality and difficulties in proving intent.

Regarding this, the NHRCK pointed out, "The ministry's response limits the scope of perpetrators to 'customers' only, leaving a blind spot in protection against bullying by third parties other than customers." It also criticized, "Without appropriate sanctions such as punishment regulations for perpetrators, the effectiveness of the norms is inevitably limited."

Furthermore, the NHRCK urged, "Advanced measures are necessary to improve the current legal system to prevent the tragedy in our society caused by the violation of workers' dignity as human beings from continuing."