"Is It Just for Show?" · "Even Dogs Would Understand" The Top 5 Workplace Verbal Abuses

Analysis of 512 Reports Received by Workplace Gapjil 119 from January to November This Year
In Severe Cases, Assault Charges Apply; If a Third Party Is Present, Charges of Insult and Defamation May Be Established

This year, among the verbal abuses by bosses that made office workers suffer, the particularly severe cases known as the 'Top 5 Verbal Abuses of the Year' were announced.

The civic group Workplace Bullying 119 announced on the 26th that it had selected the 'Top 5 Verbal Abuses' cases that stood out in severity from 512 reports of assault and verbal abuse received between January and November this year.

The Top 5 verbal abuses included: "If you're struggling with that, everyone else would have already committed suicide," "Even a dog would understand that much...", "I'll smash your head with a tool and kill you," "Do you wear your head just for show? I've never seen someone like you," and "You ____, how dare you talk trash about me? You really looked down on me like trash."

Among the reporters, a new employee was shouted at by the CEO with the words "Do you wear your head just for show?" simply because they couldn't answer a question properly, and after making a mistake, they were further verbally abused with "You're really hopeless. You ____, are you joking with me?"

Among the 1,151 email reports (including duplicates) related to workplace harassment received by Workplace Bullying 119 from January to November this year, unfair orders (558 cases) were the most frequent, followed by assault and verbal abuse (512 cases).

Workplace Bullying 119 advised that if verbal abuse by a workplace superior is severe, it can be reported as assault, and if verbal abuse is heard in front of multiple people, it can be reported as defamation or insult. However, since workplace harassment cases often are not recognized without objective evidence, they recommend recording the verbal abuse if it occurs.

Since the Workplace Harassment Prohibition Act was enforced on July 16, 2019, among the 25,854 workplace harassment cases reported to the Ministry of Employment and Labor up to August this year, verbal abuse accounted for the largest portion with 8,841 cases (34.2%). This was followed by unfair personnel actions (3,674 cases, 14.2%) and ostracism/gossip (2,867 cases, 11.1%).

Separately, a survey conducted by Workplace Bullying 119 on 1,000 office workers showed that 11.1% had experienced assault or verbal abuse, revealing that more than one in ten office workers suffer from verbal abuse in the workplace.

Workplace Bullying 119 pointed out that due to Korea's unique authoritarian culture, there are cases where the seriousness of verbal abuse is not recognized, emphasizing the need for organizational culture improvement.

Jung Hyun-chul, Secretary General of Workplace Bullying 119, stated, "Verbal abuse is an act that wounds the other person's heart and is a form of mental torture," adding, "In an authoritarian culture, verbal abuse tends to be regarded as rough advice, but serious vigilance is necessary."

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