2 out of 5 Workplaces Violate Mandatory Sexual Harassment Prevention Training... Only 4% Fined

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The number of workplaces violating sexual harassment prevention education requirements has been increasing every year. Among workplaces that fail to fulfill the obligation of sexual harassment prevention education, 96% received corrective actions without legal binding force.

Song Ok-ju, a member of the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, analyzed and announced data titled "Workplace Sexual Harassment Prevention Education Guidance and Inspection Results" submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 8th.

According to the data, the violation rate of mandatory workplace sexual harassment prevention education increased annually: 27.9% in 2015, 33.1% in 2016, 38.6% in 2017, 40.2% in 2018, and 42.6% in 2019.

Last year, more than two out of five workplaces inspected failed to fulfill the sexual harassment prevention education obligation. As of June 2020, the violation rate was 33%.

Under the current "Equal Employment Opportunity Act," employers are required to conduct workplace sexual harassment prevention education once a year. Violations are subject to fines of up to 5 million KRW.

From 2015 to June 2020, 1,126 workplaces were sanctioned by the Ministry of Employment and Labor for violating the mandatory workplace sexual harassment prevention education. By type of sanction, 1,081 cases (96%) were corrective actions, and 45 cases (4%) were fines. This means that 96% of all sanctions were administrative guidance in the form of corrective actions without legal binding force.

Furthermore, reviewing the "Workplace Guidance and Inspection Results in the Field of Employment Equality" conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of violations related to sexual harassment under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act increased annually from 144 cases in 2015 to 179 in 2016, 225 in 2017, 384 in 2018, and 601 in 2019.

Assembly member Song emphasized, "It is necessary to strengthen the standards for legal violation measures by raising the correction period and fine imposition criteria for workplaces violating sexual harassment education as stipulated in the Ministry of Employment and Labor's labor inspector work regulations," adding, "Swift and fair investigation, management, and supervision of sexual harassment cases must be ensured."

She continued, "Workplace sexual harassment prevention education is focused on formal and mandatory group training," and stated, "We will do our best to prepare practical alternatives such as introducing cyber education in parallel to improve educational conditions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.