Workplace Abuse 119: "86.6% of Workplace Harassment Cases End in Midway Withdrawal or Other Resolutions"

Fines 1.3%·Prosecution Referrals 1.8%
Labor Inspectors Increased 2.1% Over 5 Years
Issues Include Human Rights Violations and Passive Investigations

# I filed a complaint about workplace harassment at the Labor Office and attended the hearing, but the inspector did not properly investigate and said, “For workplace harassment to be recognized, it must involve violence, verbal abuse, or socially condemned acts that could appear in the news,” and claimed that the incidents I reported do not qualify as workplace harassment. Is the suffering I endured really not recognized as harassment? (Case reported to Workplace Bullying 119 in July 2024)

Since the enforcement of the Workplace Harassment Prevention Act, the number of complaints filed with the Labor Office regarding related incidents has steadily increased, while the number of cases processed remains minimal.

Workplace harassment. Photo by Asia Economy DB

According to data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor obtained by Workplace Bullying 119 through Representative Woo Won-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea on the 14th, the number of workplace harassment complaints filed with the Labor Office immediately after the law’s enforcement in 2020 was 7,398 cases, but last year it more than doubled to 15,801 cases. Over 5,000 complaints were filed in the five months from January to May this year.

The problem is that despite the significant increase in the number of cases, the number of cases processed is still insufficient.

According to the “Workplace Harassment Case Processing Status” submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to Representative Woo, among the workplace harassment cases filed since the law’s enforcement, 31% were withdrawn and 55.6% were otherwise processed, totaling 86.6%. In contrast, the rate of fines imposed was only 1.3%, and the rate of referral to prosecution was 1.8%.

Kim Yu-kyung, a labor attorney at Workplace Bullying 119, said in a phone interview with this paper, “Among every 10 complainants, about 3 withdraw their cases during the processing stage, often due to proposals, coercion, or pressure to settle either voluntarily or involuntarily,” and emphasized, “The ‘other processing’ category includes cases reported from workplaces with fewer than five employees, which are not subject to the law, indicating significant gaps in the legislation.”

Given this situation, Workplace Bullying 119 has been receiving daily reports alleging problems in the Labor Office’s handling of workplace harassment cases.

According to Workplace Bullying 119, the types of complaints about “unfair administration” experienced after filing cases with the Labor Office mainly fall into four categories: ▲ delays in case processing ▲ human rights violations by labor inspectors ▲ passive or formalistic investigations ▲ unreasonable judgments.

Reviewing the “Labor Office Case Processing Guidelines” and “Labor Inspector Work Regulations,” cases other than “criminal complaints or prosecutions” reported to the Labor Office must be processed within 25 days from the date of receipt. However, a single 25-day extension is allowed, and further extensions are possible with the complainant’s consent. However, Workplace Bullying 119 explains that recently, labor inspectors have been arbitrarily delaying the processing deadline without obtaining the complainant’s consent or notifying them of the reasons for the delay and the expected processing time, with such reports continuously coming in.

Attorney Kim said, “In reality, some labor inspectors show negligent attitudes such as saying ‘I was too busy to review the materials’ to complainants who came because internal reporting did not resolve the issue, conduct investigations with inappropriate attitudes including sarcasm, and even force complainants to withdraw their complaints,” adding, “There are also many reports related to the investigation location. According to labor inspector work regulations, workplace harassment cases must be investigated in a ‘separate, independent space’.”

To address the unfair administrative issues arising during the handling of workplace harassment cases, Workplace Bullying 119 emphasizes the need to increase the number of dedicated labor inspectors.

According to the “Labor Inspector Increase Trend” data received by Workplace Bullying 119 from the Ministry of Employment and Labor through Representative Woo Won-sik’s office, although the rate of labor inspector recruitment has been increasing, the total number of inspectors only rose by 2.1%, from 2,213 in 2019 to 2,260 in March this year.

Representative Woo said, “If cases beyond the capacity of the current workforce are filed without sufficient personnel reinforcement, labor inspectors are more likely to induce case withdrawals or conduct inadequate investigations,” and added, “We must establish a principle of direct investigation, provide high-quality education to labor inspectors to prevent violations of investigation guidelines and secondary harm to complainants, and be able to impose substantial sanctions beyond just filing complaints through the People’s Petition system when problems arise.”