Five years after the anti-bullying law in the workplace was implemented, what tasks remain?

‘Freelance’ workers should also be protected from workplace harassment

Recently, controversy arose when it was reported that the late MBC weather caster Oyo Anna made an extreme choice after suffering from 'bullying in the workplace' during her lifetime. It is known that the deceased had been subject to verbal abuse from co-workers for a long time, and although he confessed his grievances to company officials at the time, he was not properly protected. Afterwards, MBC announced that it would begin an investigation into the truth, but the criticism does not appear to be subsiding.

According to Article 76-3 of the Labor Standards Act, if anyone becomes aware of workplace harassment, he or she may report the fact to the employer, and the employer must conduct an investigation into the parties without delay. It is part of the so-called 'Workplace Harassment Prohibition Act' that has been in effect since 2019, and in order to fall within the scope of this law, the person involved must first be an 'employee' under the Labor Standards Act.

Therefore, it has been constantly pointed out that some non-regular workers, such as freelancers, who are not normally considered 'workers', are bound to fall into the blind spot of the anti-harassment law in the workplace. Mr. Oh also worked as a ‘freelancer’ at a broadcasting company. The problem is that many broadcasting companies employ a large number of freelancers to manage their workforce. According to the 'Status of Irregular Workers and Freelancers in Broadcasting Companies' report published by the Korea Labor and Society Research Institute in 2020, out of 16,676 workers in the domestic broadcasting industry, 6,999 are unstable workers such as irregular workers and freelancers, or 42% of the total respondents.

Accordingly, the party and government began enacting related laws to eliminate legal blind spots. The People's Power Party and the Ministry of Employment and Labor have decided to enact a special law (tentative name 'Oyo Anna Law') that allows punishment for serious workplace harassment even if it occurs only once. In addition, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jang-gyeom proposed an amendment to the Labor Standards Act that, separate from the enactment of a special law, would recognize the ‘worker self-respect’ of freelancers such as weather casters and allow them to be subject to workplace harassment regulations.

Although related measures appear to be being prepared one by one, there are still challenges that need to be resolved. The most urgent thing is the process of objectively establishing standards for judging bullying (persistence and repetition). In addition, it seems necessary to revise and supplement the legal provisions to ensure that there is no bias in the company's actions when an incident of bullying occurs within the company. I hope that the day will come when all workers can be protected through effective legislation.
 

Small Business Team

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5 years since the anti-bullying law in the workplace was implemented, what tasks remain? (Shortcut)