"CCTV Surveillance and Messenger Monitoring"... There Are More Companies Like This

Jikjang Gapjil 119 Reveals Cases of Workplace Surveillance
"Excessive Monitoring Constitutes Workplace Harassment... Legal Revision Needed"

Recently, dog trainer Kang Hyeong-wook has been accused of installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in his office to monitor company employees, and reports have emerged that other companies have also engaged in surveillance through in-house CCTV as well as email and messenger monitoring.

On the 2nd, the civic group Workplace Bullying 119 announced that it received 40 emails complaining about "workplace surveillance" from January to May this year. The reports were mainly categorized into ▲ surveillance through CCTV ▲ monitoring of messenger and email ▲ surveillance using other monitoring programs.

The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Closed-circuit television (CCTV). Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

A whistleblower, Mr. A, who works as a cleaner in an apartment complex, expressed his grievance, saying, "The manager watches everything through CCTV. He says he will harass me until I do the job well, but even when I report it to headquarters, nothing is resolved." Another whistleblower, Mr. B, revealed, "The company checked all employees' internal messenger messages without prior consent and dismissed employees who expressed dissatisfaction with the company in their messages without any prior action."

Another whistleblower, Mr. C, said, "The program used by the company reports if there is no computer activity for just five minutes by marking the status as disconnected," adding, "Excessive surveillance is taking place." Some whistleblowers claimed that the company monitored personal phone calls and bathroom usage during work hours through CCTV, alleging excessive surveillance.

In response, Workplace Bullying 119 stated that indiscriminate surveillance in the workplace using electronic devices and programs could constitute "workplace bullying." They explained, "The Ministry of Employment and Labor's 'Manual for Judging and Preventing Workplace Bullying' describes 'excessively monitoring employees while working or resting through CCTV' as a type of workplace bullying." However, they pointed out, "Most workplaces are not regulated by labor laws regarding electronic surveillance abuse, so discussions are still based on the Personal Information Protection Act, the Communications Privacy Protection Act, and the Location Information Protection Act."

They continued, "These laws do not consider the nature of labor relations, where users and workers inevitably enter into contracts under unequal conditions," emphasizing, "Amendments to the Labor Standards Act should be promptly made to allow employers to collect and use information only when they prove business necessity without infringing on workers' personal rights, and to place the burden of proof regarding surveillance on the employer, considering information asymmetry."