Workplace Bullying Disciplinary Actions Against Public Officials Increase by 29.7%
Once called the "dream workplace," the public servant community, whose popularity is declining due to low wages, has seen a significant increase in workplace bullying issues.
According to data received on the 18th by Yang Bu-nam, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Personnel Management, the number of national and local public officials disciplined for "workplace bullying acts"?which involve causing physical or mental distress to other public officials by abusing superior status?totaled 144 last year, a 29.7% increase from 111 in 2022.
Among them, national public officials belonging to central government agencies increased from 58 to 85, and local public officials belonging to local governments rose from 53 to 59.
Among central government agencies from 2022 to 2023, the Ministry of Education had the highest number of related disciplinary actions (28). The Ministry of Education had no disciplined public officials in 2022 but surged to 28 in 2023. This was followed by the Korea Coast Guard (26), the National Police Agency (24), the Ministry of Justice (18), and the National Fire Agency (9).
On the other hand, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family each had only one disciplined official, the lowest number.
During the same period, among local governments, Gyeonggi had the highest number with 30, followed by Seoul (13), Jeonbuk (9), Gwangju (8), Daejeon (7), and Gangwon (6). Jeju was the only one among the 17 provinces and cities with no related disciplinary cases.
By type of discipline, central public officials were disciplined in the order of ▲reprimand (46) ▲salary reduction (44) ▲suspension (38) ▲demotion (10).
For local public officials, reprimand was the most common with 37, followed by ▲suspension (33) ▲salary reduction (31) ▲demotion (6).
Dismissal affected 5 central public officials and 5 local public officials each, while there were no cases of discharge.
The current National Public Service Act and Local Public Service Act do not specifically include provisions prohibiting workplace bullying or protecting victimized public officials.
Accordingly, during the 21st National Assembly, a related bill was proposed to regulate reporting, investigation, and victim protection measures in cases of workplace bullying within public service organizations, similar to the Labor Standards Act applied to private-sector workers, but it was discarded.
In the current 22nd National Assembly, similar amendment bills to the National Public Service Act and Local Public Service Act were consecutively proposed in June but remain pending.
Representative Yang pointed out, "Although social awareness of workplace bullying in the public sector has increased, related victimization continues to rise, indicating slow changes in organizational culture. Various measures should be prepared to prevent public officials from experiencing workplace bullying and to create a safe workplace."
Meanwhile, public servants, once called "iron rice bowls," were considered one of the best workplaces by young people, but recently, the departure of low-tenure public officials has increased. According to the Government Employees Pension Service, the number of public officials with less than five years of service who resigned in 2022 was 13,032, a 72.6% increase from 7,548 in 2019. According to a survey conducted last year by the Korean Government Employees Union targeting 20,674 members, 47% of public officials in their 20s and 30s responded that they intended to resign early, with the most common reason (69%) being "low wages."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
