"Malicious Complaints Beware!"... Gwanak-gu Takes Action to Protect Employees from Malicious Complaints

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is making every effort to protect its employees from malicious complaints such as verbal abuse and physical assault.

First, to protect employees' personal information from malicious complaints, the district removed employee photos from the seating charts posted at department entrances. This measure aims to alleviate employees' concerns about personal information being leaked and becoming targets of malicious complaints, thereby protecting the human rights of public officials.

However, considering the inconvenience to visiting complainants caused by the removal of photos from the organizational chart, the seating charts will include more detailed descriptions of work tasks, and nameplates displaying employees' names and duties will be attached to partitions within departments to provide the best possible guidance to complainants.

The district has established an emergency response system to prepare for malicious complaints and continues to conduct regular joint drills with related agencies.

Closed-circuit televisions (CCTV), transparent shields, and emergency bells have been installed in complaint departments, and portable protective equipment (wearable cameras) is being distributed to complaint-handling staff to strengthen existing measures.

On April 29, a joint “Emergency Situation Response Drill” was conducted with the Gwanak Police Station to protect complaint-handling public officials and visiting complainants from illegal acts such as verbal abuse and physical assault by complainants.

The drill simulated a situation where a complainant verbally abuses and physically assaults a staff member.

The emergency response team followed the response manual by ▲requesting the cessation of verbal abuse and actively involving senior officials ▲recording audio and video ▲calling the emergency bell and restraining by security officers ▲protecting and evacuating the victimized official ▲subduing the complainant and ensuring the prompt arrival and handover to the police, thereby enhancing on-site response capabilities for real situations.

Additionally, the district plans to conduct training on handling unusual and repetitive complaints for all employees and protect the rights of complaint-handling staff through legal action in case of illegal acts. For employees harmed by malicious complaints, psychological counseling programs, rest & healing camps, and medical expense support will be provided to aid emotional and physical healing and recovery.

Mayor Park Jun-hee stated, “Illegal acts such as verbal abuse and physical assault cause anxiety not only to complaint-handling staff but also to other complainants and delay complaint processing, causing many inconveniences. We will do our best to create a safe working environment so that all employees can work with peace of mind, free from malicious complaints.”