“Sexual harassment at work” refers to a situation where an employer, a senior, or an employee sexually humiliates or offends another employee with sexually charged behavior or language using status at work or in relation to work, or gives disadvantages in employment on account of a failure respond positively to sexual advances or other sexual requests.
Sexual harassment can occur anywhere within or outside the company premises. If a superior takes advantage of his/her position, it counts as sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can also occur inside a vehicle during a business trip, or during a collective dinner, etc.

I. Prohibition against Sexual Harassment at Work and Related Education

1. Education to prevent sexual harassment
Employers, senior workers, or workers shall not engage in sexual harassment at work(Article 12).
※ Article 39 (Fine for Negligence) ① An employer who commits an action in violation of Article 12 shall be punished by a fine for negligence of ten million won or less.

2. Education to prevent sexual harassment at work
An employer shall implement an educational program one or more times per year to prevent sexual harassment at work and create a safe work environment for workers. Employers and employees shall be required to take education to prevent sexual harassment(Article 13 ①, ②).
The preventive program shall include the following items:
① Laws concerning sexual harassment;
② Procedures or criteria for remedy in the event of sexual harassment at work;
③ Consultation for grievances and procedures for remedy for victims of sexual harassment at work;
④ Other items necessary to prevent sexual harassment at work.
A preventive program can be implemented through employee seminars, morning meetings, conferences in consideration of the size of the business and the situation. Simply distributing or putting up educational materials cannot be deemed as implementation of preventive training.
※ Article 39 (Fine for Negligence) ③ Any employer who failed to implement the measures prescribed in Article 13(1) shall be punished by a fine for negligence of 3 million won or less.

II. Measures to be taken when sexual harassment is reported at work

The employer shall take disciplinary action and other equivalent measures without delay upon the confirmation of sexual harassment at work(Article 14).
1) Upon receiving a report or discovering an occurrence of sexual harassment in the workplace, the employer shall immediately conduct an investigation to confirm the facts. In such cases, the employer must ensure that the worker who has reportedly suffered from sexual harassment on the job or who has claimed that sexual harassment occurred(hereinafter referred to as the “alleged employee victim etc.”) does not feel sexually humiliated during the investigation process.

2) In protecting an alleged employee victim etc. during the investigation, the employer shall take appropriate measures such as changing that person’s place of work or providing paid leave if necessary. In any case, the employer shall not take action that goes against the will of the alleged employee victim, etc.

3) If the investigation confirms that sexual harassment has occurred on the job against the alleged employee victim(upon confirmation, hereafter referred to as the “employee victim”), the employer shall take measures as necessary and as requested by the employee victim, such as changing the place of work, transferring, or providing the employee victim with paid leave.

4) If the investigation identifies the perpetrator of sexual harassment on the job, the employer shall immediately change the perpetrator’s place of work or take other disciplinary actions. In such cases, the employer shall listen to the view of the employee victim on the disciplinary action before carrying it out.
5) Persons who investigate the report of sexual harassment on the job as prescribed in paragraph 2), who receive such a report, or who participate in the investigation process shall not divulge the confidential information they learn during the investigation against the will of the employee victim etc.: Provided, that this shall not apply to cases where they are reporting information relevant to the investigation to the employer or providing necessary information upon request from relevant institutions.
※ In violation of 1) to 5) above: Article 39 (Fine for Negligence) (2) An employer who commits an action in violation of Article 14(1) shall be punished by a fine for negligence of five million won or less.

6) Employers shall not take any of the disadvantageous actions listed in the following subparagraphs against an employee who reports sexual harassment or against an(alleged) employee victim etc.:
① Expulsion, dismissal or any disadvantageous measures corresponding to rejection of the worker’s status;
② Unfair personnel actions such as levying penalties, suspending, reducing wages, demoting, or limiting promotion;
③ Unfair personnel actions such as relieving of all duties or reassigning duties against the worker’s will;
④ Discriminative evaluations of achievement, peer evaluations or unfair payment of wages or bonuses based on such unfair evaluations;
⑤ Limiting educational or training opportunities to develop and/or improve vocational abilities;
⑥ Perpetrating actions such as bullying, physical or verbal abuse which inflict emotional or physical damage, or neglecting to stop the occurrence of such actions;
⑦ Any other disadvantageous measures against the will of the worker who reported the sexual harassment or against the employee victim etc.
※ Article 37 (Penal Provisions) (2) An employer who commits an act in violation of Article 14(6) shall be punished by imprisonment of three years or less or a penalty of 30 million won or less.

III. Employer’s Procedures in Dealing with Sexual Harassment Cases

Upon receiving a complaint of sexual harassment, the employer shall conduct interviews, investigate the facts, implement appropriate measures, such as disciplinary punishment, etc. and then inform the alleged victim-employee.

― 1st stage: Receipt of sexual harassment report
The person-in-charge of a help organization in the company, personnel or labor department receives the case.

― 2nd stage: Interviews and investigation
Upon receiving the report, the person-in-charge shall quickly interview and thoroughly investigate. If necessary, the investigator can hear the suspect’s testimony instead by organizing a face-to-face meeting between the alleged victim and the suspect.
The person-in-charge shall weigh the collected information obtained during investigations. As soon as the person-in-charge draws an official opinion, it shall be reported to the employer.

― 3rd stage: Confirmation and disciplinary action
Upon confirming that sexual harassment has occurred, the employer shall take appropriate measures such as transferring the offender to a different department or position, issuing a warning or reprimand, suspending from work, or dismissing the offender. If light disciplinary punishment such as a warning fails to deter the offender from repeating the sexual harassment, the employer shall take harsher disciplinary measures. Also, the victim may request a transfer to another department.

― 4th stage: Report of the results
Upon closing the investigation, the company shall notify the(alleged) victim and the(alleged) offender of the results.

― 5th stage: Preventative actions
The employer shall pay special concern to the victim employee after the closure of a confirmed case of sexual harassment to prevent further harassment of that employee.