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Workers' critical awareness regarding verbal abuse and insults in the workplace, as well as supervisors ordering subordinates to run personal errands, has been found to be weakening. Workplace bullying sensitivity, which indicates how sensitively unfair workplace behavior is perceived, fell for the third consecutive year.

According to a survey of 1,000 workers aged 19 and older nationwide conducted from June 1 to 9 by public opinion research agency Global Research at the request of civic group Gapjil 119 on August 23, this year's Workplace Bullying Sensitivity Index was tallied at 63.5 out of 100 points. Following drops from 72.5 points in 2023 to 67.8 points in 2024 and 64.7 points last year, the index fell for the third straight year through this year.

The Workplace Bullying Sensitivity Index quantifies how problematic workers perceive various situations that can arise at work, divided into 30 questions across categories including law and workplace culture. A higher score means a stronger perception that the corresponding behavior is unfair.

In this year's survey, the item with the highest sensitivity was verbal abuse, recording 73.5 points. This was followed by unpaid wages at 72.7 points, insults at 72.4 points, employment contracts at 70.4 points, and non-work-related orders at 70.1 points. In contrast, recommended resignation scored the lowest at 47.4 points. Responsibility of resigning employees stood at 48.7 points, commuting at 53.4 points, workplace culture at 53.5 points, and accommodations for employees with childcare responsibilities at 56.3 points. Questions related to recommended resignation and the responsibility of resigning employees remained at the bottom among all items for the fourth consecutive year.

The item showing the sharpest drop in score compared to 2023 was the non-work-related orders question stating, "Supervisors may ask subordinates for personal favors unrelated to work," falling by 14.3 points. The verbal abuse question stating, "If a supervisor is angry, harsh language (profanity) is acceptable," dropped by 14.2 points, while the insults question stating, "Somewhat insulting work instructions are sometimes necessary," also dropped by 12.2 points.

Choi Hye-in, a certified labor attorney at Gapjil 119, emphasized, "If the minimum standard for identifying workplace bullying is compromised, workplace harassment and labor law violations inevitably become more normalized," adding, "The Workplace Harassment Prevention Act was designed for organizations to regulate themselves autonomously, but given that bullying sensitivity has actually regressed more than seven years after the law took effect, we need to examine whether the law is failing to function properly."

                                                                                                           Kim Tae-hoon