A sexual assault against a female worker with an intellectual disability occurred at a government-certified "model workplace for workers with disabilities" — a facility type that receives official certification and fiscal support specifically for employing people with disabilities.
The workplace was found to have committed 12 labor law violations over the past two years, including failure to pay the minimum wage. Its CEO had not completed mandatory workplace sexual harassment prevention training for two consecutive years.
According to data submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ye-ji of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Wednesday, the ministry conducted a special labor inspection at a model workplace for workers with disabilities in Namdong-gu, Incheon, and uncovered a total of 12 legal violations.
At the facility, a female worker with an intellectual disability identified only as A was subjected to prolonged sexual assault by a former executive, a man in his 70s identified as B, which resulted in pregnancy and childbirth. B was arrested and referred to prosecutors on Wednesday. The workplace had received its model workplace certification on Aug. 5, 2024.
The model workplace system was established to provide stable employment for people with disabilities — particularly those with severe disabilities — who face significant barriers to finding work in the general labor market.
To qualify, a workplace must employ at least 10 workers with disabilities, with people with disabilities making up at least 30 percent of the total regular workforce. Depending on the size of the operation, workers with severe disabilities must account for between 5 and 15 percent or more of the regular workforce.
Certified workplaces must also provide accessibility facilities and pay workers with disabilities at least the minimum wage. Employers who establish and operate such workplaces can receive grants covering up to 75 percent of actual investment costs — capped at 1 billion won ($723,000) — for work facilities, accessibility installations and commuter vehicles. Because these workplaces combine stricter disability employment obligations with government support, they carry a heightened responsibility to protect the labor rights and human dignity of workers with disabilities.
The special inspection found the workplace had violated the Labor Standards Act on eight counts and the Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act, the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, the Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employment Act, and the Minimum Wage Act once each. Six of the violations — including failure to pay the minimum wage and severance pay, and underpayment of overtime allowances — were referred for criminal prosecution.
The workplace had not updated its employment contracts to reflect this year's minimum wage increase and failed to pay the higher minimum wage to three delivery workers from January through May.
The facility also failed to pay unused annual leave allowances for 2025 and severance pay owed to a worker who left in April 2024. Inspectors further found that from May 2025 through June this year, the workplace paid overtime at a flat rate rather than applying the legally required 50 percent premium on top of regular wages.
Administrative violations included failure to issue pay stubs, omission of overtime calculation details, missing required entries in wage ledgers, and failure to file workplace rules with authorities. The CEO had not completed workplace sexual harassment prevention training even once in either 2024 or 2025.
Administrative fines totaled 59.2 million won: 30.5 million won for pay stub violations, 17.5 million won for failure to specify working conditions for fixed-term employees, and 5 million won each for incomplete wage ledger entries and failure to conduct sexual harassment prevention training.
Across the country, 875 certified model workplaces for workers with disabilities currently employ 19,954 people with disabilities, of whom 10,162 — or 50.9 percent — have intellectual disabilities. Because people with intellectual disabilities account for a disproportionately large share of abuse and sex crime victims, experts say the government must strengthen proactive inspections and oversight of these workplaces.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor said it plans to revoke the facility's certification by amending its internal rules on support for model workplaces following the incident. However, critics say the ministry must also put in place measures — such as employment transfers to other workplaces or job placement support — to ensure workers with disabilities do not lose their jobs in the process.
"A horrific sexual assault that exploited the very vulnerability of workers with disabilities occurred at a facility designed to give them safe and stable employment," Kim said. "I will work to strengthen oversight to protect the human rights of workers with disabilities at these facilities, and to revise relevant laws and systems so that employment is not severed even if a workplace's certification is revoked."
fact0514@heraldcorp.com
