Workplace Bullying 119 Counseling Cases Revealed
Most Involve Forced Company Dinners...Exclusion from Dinners Too
"In our department, we collect a few tens of thousands of won every month under the name of dinner gatherings. I have not participated in these gatherings nor paid the fees for several years, but recently the department head mentioned this and said I have no choice but to be transferred to another department."
Despite the Workplace Harassment Prohibition Act being in effect for over four years, many superiors and employers still engage in 'dinner gathering abuse.'
On the 17th, the civic group Workplace Abuse 119 reported that among 1,703 email consultations with verified identities from January this year to the 12th of this month, 48 cases were related to participation in dinner gatherings. Of these, 30 cases (62.5%) involved forced attendance, while the remaining 18 cases (37.5%) involved exclusion from gatherings.
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All cases of forced attendance involved superiors using vertical hierarchical relationships to compel participation, and whistleblowers reported being effectively threatened that their attendance could affect their job evaluations.
One whistleblower expressed frustration, saying, "There are too many drinking gatherings. We have to build camaraderie with colleagues over drinks, and those who participate more are evaluated as more proactive employees."
On the other hand, some workers suffered from being unilaterally excluded from gatherings.
One whistleblower said, "I've been treated like an invisible person for a month. Not only do they not invite me to lunch, but they even held a dinner gathering without me." Another, who identified as a public official, revealed, "A superior who was harassing me once came to me and said, 'Don't come to the dinner gatherings anymore.'"
Workplace Abuse 119 pointed out that female workers are also exposed to sexual harassment stemming from forced attendance at dinner gatherings.
One female whistleblower said, "After the second dinner gathering, the manager suggested going for a third gathering alone. I asked to go with other employees, but the manager insisted it had to be just the two of us. I reluctantly went, and at that gathering, he evaluated my appearance and body, which caused me great shame."
Despite these ongoing cases of harm, a significant number of workers still believe that dinner gatherings are necessary for organizational culture, according to survey results.
Workplace Abuse 119 commissioned Embrain Public, a public opinion research firm, to conduct a sensitivity index survey on abuse among 1,000 workers from June 9 to 15. The score for the question "Dinner gatherings and karaoke are necessary to improve teamwork" dropped by 2.4 points from 73.6 last year to 71.2 this year. The score for "Even if you dislike alcohol, you should drink one or two glasses to maintain smooth workplace relations" also declined from 80.6 to 73.3 during the same period.
Among all workers, those in their 50s, males, and managerial positions tended to believe more strongly that dinner gatherings, karaoke, and drinking are necessary for the organization. The score for men's dinner culture was 67 points, 9.6 points lower than women's 76.6 points, and the score for forced drinking was 68.6 points, 10.9 points lower than women's 79.5 points.
By age group, workers in their 20s scored 73.4 on the dinner culture index, higher than the average, while those in their 50s scored 66.3, showing a gap of 7.1 points. By rank, managers generally scored lower than regular employees and staff.
Lee Sang-woon, a labor attorney at Workplace Abuse 119, stated, "Forcing attendance at dinner gatherings or unilaterally excluding someone from them is clearly workplace harassment. We need to change the outdated perspective that communication and unity are only possible through dinner gatherings, and the old organizational culture that takes drinking and gatherings for granted."
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