**Workplace Bullying Recognized as Occupational Accident on the Rise**
Since the implementation of the workplace bullying prohibition law five years ago, cases of workplace bullying being recognized as occupational accidents have been steadily increasing. The number of workers who have committed suicide due to harassment has reached 16. According to data submitted by the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, as of August this year, 129 cases of workplace bullying were recognized as occupational accidents. The number of cases has been rising steadily over the years, with 20 cases in 2019, 72 in 2020, 131 in 2021, 138 in 2022, and 185 last year.
Since 2019, there have been 29 applications for occupational accident recognition related to fatal incidents caused by workplace bullying, with 16 of these being recognized. Over the past five years, at least 16 workers have reportedly taken their own lives due to workplace harassment.
In the past three years, there were 476 instances where an employer or their relatives directly harassed workers, leading to fines, affecting 527 victims. Types of harassment included verbal abuse (322 cases), unfair personnel measures (128), gossip and ostracism (46), personal tasks (41), and withholding of work (32). An additional 154 cases were categorized as “other,” making the type of harassment hard to specify.
Currently, the law allows the Ministry of Employment and Labor to impose fines of up to 10 million KRW on employers who directly engage in harassment. However, there is criticism of the “self-investigation” process, since employers are responsible for conducting investigations, which could be problematic if the employer is the perpetrator.
While the ministry’s guidelines permit labor inspectors to conduct independent investigations, the legal obligation to investigate still lies with the employer. Additionally, workers who harass other workers are not subject to fines or criminal penalties. Employers are only required to implement measures such as changing the work location after conducting an internal investigation.
Representative Lee Yong-woo stated that employers should be excluded from the investigation process in cases of harassment caused by them and plans to propose an amendment to the Labor Standards Act in November to prohibit employers from conducting self-investigations.