New Articles of 76-2 and 76-3 of Labor Standards Act (hereafter referred to as “LSA”) to prevent harassments in workplaces were established this January and they will be enforced on July 16, 2019. Article 76-2 prescribes that an employer or a worker shall not inflict physical and mental distress to other workers or deteriorate working environments abusing his or her position. According to Article 76-3, anybody who knows the damage may report it to the employer and the employer shall investigate the case. Also, the Article 76-3 mentions that the employer shall take appropriate measures to the wrongdoer and it prohibits the employer from taking unfavorable measures to the victim or the reporter. Under the amended first paragraph of the Article 109, an employer who unfairly treats the victim or the reporter of the harassment in workplaces shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than three years or by a fine of not exceeding 30 million won. I hope the new articles will help the number of the victims in workplaces to decrease. For further inquiries, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].

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