Korean Labor Law Update: Workplace Bullying & Harassment

The Korean National Assembly recently passed amendments to the Labor Standards Act (the “LSA”) and the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act addressing workplace bullying and harassment. The amendments will become effective on May 29, 2019.

For the first time, the LSA will now:

– require most companies to address non-sexual workplace bullying and harassment in their Rules of Employment (workforce rules); and

– impose various obligations regarding how to respond to allegations of non-sexual workplace bullying and harassment.

There is no specific statutory penalty for failure to abide by the new rules on how to respond to reports of bullying and harassment. However, retaliation against a victim or other employee for reporting workplace bullying or harassment will be punishable by imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to KRW 30 million (approx. USD 28,500). And failure to adequately reflect the new anti-harassment law in one’s workforce rules can lead to corrective orders and, eventually, fines.

The Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act will also expressly recognize mental distress caused by workplace bullying and harassment as a covered occupational illness. The harassment includes verbal abuse by a client or customer.

MOEL plans to publish a manual on the subject of workplace harassment, which will provide more guidance for employers, sometime in early 2019.

By Yulchon LLC, South Korea, a Transatlantic Law International Affiliated Firm.

For more information on this topic, please contact  korealabor@transatlanticlaw.com.

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