"If Sales Don't Come In, We'll Strangle You"... 15% of Office Workers Experience Assault and Verbal Abuse

"Repeated Assault and Verbal Abuse if Company Does Not Take Active Measures"
"Workplaces with Assault Incidents Must Undergo Additional Investigation and Strict Measures"

"If the branch manager fails to meet the monthly sales target, he verbally abuses employees in front of others, saying 'What kind of mindset do you have to live with?' Some have been slapped or strangled."

"When the business owner finds my mistake while working, he makes insulting remarks such as 'a guy working under others' and hits my body with his fists."

Photo by Yonhap News

A survey revealed that 1.5 out of 10 office workers have experienced assault or verbal abuse.

The civic group Workplace Bullying 119 announced on the 10th, "We commissioned the public opinion research firm 'Embrain Public' to conduct a survey of 1,000 office workers from September 4 to 11. The results showed that 15.3% of office workers experienced assault or verbal abuse."

The survey results indicated that assault and verbal abuse occurred across job categories, including office workers (14.8%), production workers (17.2%), and service workers (15.2%).

As types of harassment, 24.0% cited "insults and defamation," and 20.2% cited "unfair work orders."

Although the rate of "assault and verbal abuse" was lower, Workplace Bullying 119 pointed out that more than one in ten office workers are exposed to violence.

Among 516 email reports of assault and verbal abuse received by the organization from January to November, 65 cases involved direct physical violence, with an average of six consultations per month reporting "being hit at the workplace."

The organization emphasized, "Acts that involve direct physical force on the body, as well as swinging hands or feet as if to hit without direct contact, throwing objects, deliberately blowing cigarette smoke at someone, or spitting can all be considered assault. If you experience assault at work, you should immediately report it to the police, and if the perpetrator is the employer, you must file both a complaint and a criminal accusation with the Labor Office for violation of the Labor Standards Act."

Article 8 of the Labor Standards Act prohibits employers from assaulting employees, and violations are punishable by imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

This penalty is more severe than the assault crime under the Criminal Act, which carries up to two years imprisonment, a fine of up to 5 million won, detention, or a fine.

Attorney Kim Hana of Workplace Bullying 119 stated, "The reason reports of harassment through assault continue is due to a closed organizational culture that tolerates assault or penalizes those who raise objections. If victims do not actively seek help and companies do not take proactive measures, the problem (assault) will inevitably repeat."

She also urged, "The Ministry of Employment and Labor should investigate workplaces where assault incidents have occurred to check for additional violations of Article 8 of the Labor Standards Act and take strict and strong measures," calling for special labor inspections of workplaces where assaults have occurred.

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