Workplace bullying complaints jump 83% over three years
16,373 cases filed last year, up 7,412 from 2022
Employer-perpetrated cases hit 4,422, or 27% of total
Average processing time 62.1 days, 9.1 days longer than overall average
Reports of workplace bullying in South Korea have surged nearly 83 percent over the past three years, an investigation showed. Cases in which the employer was the perpetrator took more than nine days longer on average to process than other cases.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor submitted the data to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Hae-cheol, a member of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy and Environment Labor Committee. The data showed 16,373 workplace bullying complaints were filed last year, an increase of 7,412 cases, or 82.7 percent, from the 8,961 cases recorded in 2022.
The number of workplace bullying complaints rose every year, climbing from 8,961 in 2022 to 11,038 in 2023, 13,601 in 2024 and 16,373 last year. Through June of this year, 9,744 complaints had already been filed — a pace that, if it continues, would put this year's total above 19,000.
The number of cases in which the employer was identified as the perpetrator also grew. It rose from 2,309 in 2022 to 2,910 in 2023, 3,789 in 2024 and 4,422 last year. Their share of total complaints climbed from 25.8 percent to 27 percent over the same period. In the first half of this year, employer-perpetrated cases numbered 2,498, accounting for 25.6 percent of all complaints.
Cases involving employer perpetrators also took longer to resolve. Last year, the average processing time for all workplace bullying complaints was 53 days, but employer-perpetrated cases took 62.1 days — 9.1 days longer.
In 2022, the average processing time was 59.3 days for all cases and 73.7 days for employer-perpetrated cases. In 2023, the figures were 62.6 days and 74.5 days, respectively, and in 2024, 58 days and 68.5 days. For cases completed in the first half of this year, the average processing time was 41.1 days overall and 43.5 days for employer-perpetrated cases.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor said processing times can run longer in cases where the employer is reported as the perpetrator. In such cases, labor inspectors must conduct their own investigation while also directing and supervising the workplace's internal probe. In July, the ministry revised its manual on preventing and responding to workplace bullying to exclude an employer named as an alleged perpetrator from the investigation process. The move is aimed at blocking what has been called employers' "self-investigation."
"Victims in cases where the employer is the perpetrator inevitably feel greater pressure and fear, and when processing times are also longer, it becomes difficult to properly protect victims," Park said. "We need to strengthen protective measures against retaliation and secondary harm after a complaint is filed, and come up with ways to speed up the handling of employer-perpetrated cases."
fact0514@heraldcorp.com
