직장 내 괴롭힘 대응·조치 체계 구축과 조직 문화의 개선 - 2021.10.14. 시행 개정법을 중심으로 -

Abstract

The discussion on workplace harassment can be evaluated to have been focused on the issue of determining which behaviors constitute workplace harassment until now. This has been due to the fact that the legal prohibition against workplace harassment was an unfamiliar concept in the early days of the system’s implementation, and that raising employers’ and workers’ awareness on workplace harassment was needed.<BR> The recent amendment made to the Labor Standards Act can be evaluated to have enhanced the effectiveness of the prohibition against workplace harassment by significantly strengthening the provisions related to measures to be taken in cases of workplace harassment, based on the premise that the legal provisions have taken roots in Korean society to a certain degree. The amendment has formed the basis for the Employment and Labor Administration’s active intervention by imposing a fine for the employer’s failure to fulfill its obligation to take action in cases of workplace harassment. In addition, the amendment has presented specific standards to be observed by employers during the investigation process, such as the obligation to conduct an objective investigation or the confidentiality obligation. The recently amended law is expected to enable the system prohibiting workplace harassment to be more stably implemented and further developed.<BR> Designing and implementing the process of taking countermeasures in response to workplace harassment is a particularly important topic. In the past, there was a tendency to focus heavily on investigating and handling the specific case of workplace harassment. However, workplace harassment is not just limited to specific cases but also has significant implications for follow-up measures and development of the organization culture following each case of workplace harassment. Therefore, each workplace’s process of responding to and countering workplace harassment needs to be redesigned based on the understanding of this correlation. In particular, developing and distributing tools to evaluate and enhance the organizational culture of each workplace is an urgent task.<BR> Despite the initial concerns about the legal provisions regarding workplace harassment, the workplace harassment prohibition system has been stably implemented. However, continuous efforts should be made even after the enforcement of the recent amendment in order to establish an organizational culture in which workers are treated with mutual respect, the original intention of introducing the legislation to prohibit workplace harassment.