"If Sued, a Lawyer Will Be Provided"...Financial Public Corporation Steps Up to Protect Employees

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] Financial public institutions are preparing measures to protect their internal employees. This comes as the number of internal staff complaining of various stresses caused by malicious complainants or arising during work processes is increasing.

According to the financial sector on the 19th, Korea Housing Finance Corporation introduced an enhanced “Employee Litigation Support Regulation” amendment at the end of last year. The main point is to provide legal support from the early stages of litigation, whereas previously it was only provided when the employee became a defendant. From now on, even at the simple investigation stage, if an employee is summoned or appears before judicial authorities, an in-house lawyer will be present.

The reason Housing Finance Corporation strengthened legal support services is due to malicious complainants. Among malicious complainants, there have been cases where they visit face-to-face counters and pressure employees by threatening to file lawsuits or complaints. A Housing Finance Corporation official explained, “There are cases where employees have to appear at police stations as witnesses due to complaints from clients during legitimate work processes,” adding, “Since the psychological burden on employees is considerable, we decided to revise the regulations to provide support.”

The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation plans to introduce a work counseling program for its employees. As an institution mainly engaged in mental labor, there is a consensus that stress management for employees should be implemented at the company level.

This discussion took place last month when the KDIC board received a report on the “2022 Safety Management Responsibility Plan.” When one director asked, “Does work-related stress for office workers fall under the concept of safety management?” the head of the safety management office directly responded, “Currently, office workers mainly engaged in mental labor are also included in industrial accidents.” Among executives, voices were raised emphasizing the importance of stress management and the need to pay attention to safety management.

The Korea Credit Guarantee Fund is also operating an online program where internal employees can directly check their psychological state. It is a self-diagnosis format that allows employees to assess their mental condition and receive expert counseling based on the results. A KODIT official lamented, “Most customers who come to borrow funds are in desperate situations, and when they fail the screening, they often protest strongly, causing difficulties for employees at face-to-face counters.”

Measures to protect internal employees in financial public institutions reflect a distinctly changed atmosphere compared to the past. The recognition that mental stress is also an industrial accident and that institutional solutions are necessary has been steadily voiced in the financial sector. At a forum on “The Mental Health Status and Improvement Measures for Office Financial Workers” hosted by the Korea Labor and Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute in February last year, it was pointed out that “office financial workers have long regarded (mental stress) as something they must endure or as inevitable,” and that “each company should establish a system to promote workers’ mental health.”

Professor Kim Hyung-ryeol of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Catholic University Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, who participated as a discussant, also urged, “The degree of emotional labor among financial sector workers, especially emotional dissonance, is considerable,” and called for “the establishment of an organizational and urgent mental health intervention system.”

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