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Seven years after the implementation of the law banning workplace harassment, actual enforcement remains minimal. While three out of ten workers still experience workplace bullying, the rates of administrative fines and referrals to the prosecution stand at less than 1%, prompting calls for measures to enhance the law's effectiveness.

Gabjil 119, a labor advocacy group, released data on July 12 obtained from the Ministry of Employment and Labor through the office of Democratic Party Representative Park Hong-bae, along with the results of a survey conducted on 1,000 workers aged 19 and older nationwide.

According to the survey, 32.1% of respondents reported experiencing workplace harassment within the past year. The most common type of abuse was insult and defamation (17.8%), followed by unfair orders (16.4%), assault and verbal abuse (16.0%), non-work-related coercion (15.4%), and ostracization and discrimination (14.0%).

Among those who experienced harassment, 40.2% described the severity as serious, and 19.9% confessed to having contemplated self-harm or suicide. Despite this, victims responded passively. Over half of the affected respondents (55.1%) said they "endured or ignored it," while only 8.4% reported it to their company or labor union, and a mere 5.3% filed complaints with external bodies such as the labor ministry.

The primary reason for not reporting was the belief that "reporting would not improve the situation" (49.0%), followed by "fear of disadvantageous personnel actions" (30.1%). Furthermore, 74.1% of all respondents perceived that reporting workplace harassment is difficult.

The outcomes of actual cases support these perceptions. According to the labor ministry, 16,373 harassment reports were filed last year, nearly a threefold increase from 2020 (5,823 reports) before the law took effect. However, administrative fines were imposed in only 231 cases (1.4%), and a mere 101 cases (0.6%) were forwarded to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment.

Out of the 101 cases sent to the prosecution with confirmed outcomes, only 52 led to indictments, while 27 cases (26.7%) received a suspension of indictment. Indictment rates also varied significantly by region, with the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office at 60.0%, Gyeonggi at 47.4%, and Busan at 45.5%, raising concerns over inconsistent enforcement depending on the jurisdiction. A suspension of indictment is a lenient disposition where charges are acknowledged, but the suspect is not brought to trial considering various circumstances.

"The fact that a significant portion of cases the labor ministry deemed serious enough for criminal punishment ends up closed without any sanctions fails to guarantee even the bare minimum effectiveness of the law," said Kim Yu-gyeong, a labor attorney at Gabjil 119. She emphasized that "there needs to be effective investigation and sanctions, particularly regarding harassment cases directly perpetrated by employers."

                                                                                                            Kim Tae-hoon