Blog, Labor

We already looked over the definition of “workplace harassment” in a previous article posted on April 5, 2021. Now let’s look over the definition of “sexual harassment in the workplace.”

Even though they look like essentially the same thing, “workplace harassment” and “sexual harassment in the workplace” are treated quite differently in Korean law, mainly because they are regulated in different law. “Workplace harassment” is prohibited by Labor Standard Act, while “sexual harassment in the workplace” is prohibited by Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, which is called Equal Employment Act in short.

According to the Equal Employment Act, Article 2(2), the definition of “sexual harassment in the workplace” is this:

Article 2 (Definitions)

1. 1. 2. the term “sexual harassment in the workplace” means that an employer, a superior or an employee causes another employee to feel sexual humiliation or repulsion by sexual words or actions by utilizing a position in the workplace or in relation with duties, or providing any disadvantages in working conditions and employment on account of disregard for sexual words or actions or any other demands, etc.

You can see that the perpetrator is “employer, a superior or an employee” while the victim is only “employee,” which means employer can’t be the victim of “sexual harassment in the workplace.” But as long as you are an employee, you can be the victim, regardless of your gender or working status. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female, a full-time worker or a part-time worker, substitute, secondment, or even an interviewee who’s applying for a job.

This is the list that Ministry of Employment and Labor showed as examples of “sexual harassment in the workplace.”

• Physical contact, such as kissing, hugging or hugging from behind.
• Touching certain parts of the body, such as the breast, hips, etc.
• Forcing to give a massage or caress.
• Making sexual jokes or telling such stories.
• Making sexual comments about the physical appearance.
• Asking about private sex lives or intentionally spreading sexual information.
• Forcing or tempting to start a sexual relationship.
• Forcing to sit beside them or to pour a drink in the office dinner.
• Posting or showing sexual photographs, drawings, graffiti, publications, etc.
• Deliberately exposing or touching the private part of their bodies.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, these cases are recognized as “sexual harassment in the workplace.”

• The boss asked to meet his female employee after her shift, saying that he wants to discuss work, and then he tried to touch her inappropriately while inside the car. This was recognized as “utilizing a position in the workplace or in relation with duties,” even if it wasn’t her working hour, because the boss asked her to meet him for work-related discussion.
• The director, who has a power to decide whom he would hire as a full-time worker, asked two trainees to dance with him at the office dinner, saying that he would only hire one of them. The trainees danced with him because of fear that they wouldn’t be hired if they didn’t do as they were told.
• While in the job interview, the interviewer joked to the female interviewees that they should work there at least six months if they were hired, and if they didn’t make it to the six months they should sleep with him.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, these cases were NOT recognized as “sexual harassment in the workplace.”

• The employee ran into her boss outside the work by chance, and she accepted it when he offered to give her a ride. While in the car, the boss jokingly asked her to watch pornography together in a hotel. This wasn’t recognized as “sexual harassment in the workplace” because it wasn’t the workplace nor working-hour, and they were meeting privately without relation to their work.
• The employee was having an affair with her boss. While they were still in their relationship, the boss asked her for a sex, and he proceeded to touch her thigh even though she said no. This wasn’t recognized as “sexual harassment in the workplace” because they were in a relationship, and that relationship was based on her free will without any work-related pressure.