"Off work but told to return"…'Workplace Power Harassment' Resumes as Remote Work Ends

"End of Remote Work"... Workplace Power Harassment Resurges
Some Decide to File Complaints Over Insulting Remarks by Bosses

Choi Sang-bok (42, pseudonym), who works at an elementary school in Incheon, recently experienced a frustrating incident. After returning home from work, his supervisor called him and asked him to go back to the office to organize 10 tablet PCs. He said, "They weren't very heavy, so I could easily handle it, but I didn't understand why I had to do it." Kim Gyu-yeon (27, pseudonym), an office worker at a small company in Seoul, plans to sue a senior colleague who has been bullying him since he joined the company for defamation. He said, "He criticized my mistakes for 20 minutes" and "There were also several insulting remarks." Oh Min-jun (36, pseudonym), who works at a trading company in Seoul, said, "My boss calls me for about an hour after work because he is bored when going home," adding, "It was difficult to refuse, and it was very distressing."

With the easing of social distancing measures and the end of 'remote work,' workplace bullying has been on the rise again. According to a survey conducted by the civic group 'Workplace Bullying 119' through the polling agency Embrain Public from the 10th to the 16th of last month, 29.6% of 1,000 office workers reported experiencing workplace harassment over the past year, an increase of 6.1 percentage points from 23.5% in March when social distancing was strict. Some victims were afraid of retaliation and did not even report the incidents, and those in unstable employment, such as contract workers, were hesitant to report as well.

According to the 'Workplace Harassment Prohibition Act,' which has been in effect since July 16, 2019, acts that cause physical or mental pain to other workers by exploiting hierarchical relationships or superiority in the workplace are prohibited. If workplace harassment occurs, the employer must immediately investigate and take appropriate measures such as changing the employee's work location upon request. Employers who take retaliatory actions such as dismissal against employees who report harassment face imprisonment of up to three years or fines up to 30 million won. However, this law does not apply to workplaces with fewer than five employees, making reporting impossible in such cases.

Lee Sang-hyuk, a lawyer at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, said, "Workplace harassment is sometimes perceived as a conflict between the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) and older generations," adding, "It is necessary to clearly determine whether the behavior constitutes workplace harassment." He also noted, "In small businesses, many are family-run, so the perpetrator is likely related to the employer," and emphasized, "There needs to be a control mechanism to prevent lenient punishments."

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