Seoul: Nearly 60 percent of people who reported workplace harassments to authorities saw less-than-satisfactory responses, a survey showed Sunday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the survey conducted on 1,000 office workers from June 1 to 7 revealed that 14.2 percent of respondents experienced workplace harassment in the past year and reported it to the authorities. Of those who reported harassment, 59.2 percent described the response or measures taken by the authorities as "passive."
Reasons for describing the response as passive included "inappropriate remarks, such as slighting the informant or taking the company's side" (51.7 percent), "putting pressure to drop the report or reach an agreement" (37.9 percent), and "insincere investigation" (31 percent).
The survey was commissioned by Gapjil 119, a civic group dedicated to stamping out power abuse by people in higher positions, and conducted by polling agency Global Research. Gapjil 119 noted that the way labor inspectors handle reports is an indicator of the effectiveness of labor laws and respect for labor rights. The group called for strengthening their training, increasing hiring, and revising work guidelines.