Desk Disappearances and Password Changes... 27% of Office Workers Witness or Experience 'De Facto Dismissal'

Three out of ten office workers have experienced or witnessed so-called 'de facto dismissal.'

De facto dismissal refers to actions that induce an employee to quit voluntarily without formally notifying them of dismissal. This includes methods such as the company notifying a recommendation for resignation but then not assigning any work or changing the office entry password.

On the 9th, the civic group Workplace Bullying 119 commissioned the public opinion research firm Global Research to conduct a related survey targeting 1,000 office workers nationwide aged 19 and older last December.

According to the survey results (95% confidence level, sampling error ±3.1 percentage points), 27% of respondents said they had experienced or witnessed a de facto dismissal situation.

By type, the most common response, at 15.3%, was experiencing or witnessing a situation where dismissal or recommended resignation was verbally notified but no work was assigned. This was followed by job postings at the person's seat (12.9%), changing the office entry password (11.5%), and prohibition of access to the office server (network) (10.5%).

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When asked whether the Labor Relations Commission should recognize de facto dismissal as dismissal, 50.8% of office workers agreed.

Additionally, the proportion of respondents who experienced or witnessed de facto dismissal was lower in smaller workplaces. In private workplaces with 300 or more employees, responses ranged from 9.1% to 19.4% for each situation, whereas in private workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, the rates were relatively low at 1.8% to 10.3%.

Workplace Bullying 119 analyzed that "this difference arises because companies with fewer than 5 employees are not required by current law to go through formal dismissal procedures."

The Labor Standards Act stipulates that dismissal is only possible for workplaces with 5 or more regular employees if there is just cause. Furthermore, dismissal notification must be given in writing. However, companies with fewer than 5 employees are not subject to this requirement.

Workplace Bullying 119 urged for measures, stating, "Laws and systems designed to protect workers from indiscriminate dismissal may be rendered ineffective."

Attorney Yang Hyun-jun of Workplace Bullying 119 said, "Although dismissal without just cause is legally prohibited, in reality, there are many cases where regulations are circumvented to pressure resignation," adding, "Even if it appears as a recommended resignation, if it is de facto dismissal, a consistent standard for recognizing it as dismissal should be established, along with surveys and countermeasures."

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