‘Workplace bullying’ among civil servants up by 30% YOY

It was found that the number of civil servants disciplined for workplace bullying last year increased by 30% compared to the previous year.

According to data received by Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Personnel Management on Wednesday. Last year, 144 national and local civil servants were disciplined for ‘workplace bullying,’ which causes physical and mental pain to other civil servants by exploiting superior positions. This marks a 29.7% increase from the previous year (111 people).

Among central government agencies, the Ministry of Education had the highest number of disciplinary actions in 2022-2023 (28 people), followed by the Korea Coast Guard (26), the National Police Agency (24), the Ministry of Justice (18), and the National Fire Agency (9). Other ministries, such as the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, each had one person disciplined.

Among local governments, Gyeonggi Province had the highest number of cases with 30, followed by Seoul (13), North Jeolla Province (9), Gwangju (8), Daejeon (7), and Gangwon Province (6). Jeju Province was the only province out of the 17 cities and provinces that had no disciplinary measures. By type of discipline, ‘reprimands’ were the most common, with 46 cases in central government and 37 in local government.

The current National and Local Civil Service Act does not explicitly prohibit workplace bullying or protect victimized civil servants. However, the Civil Service Disciplinary Ordinance includes provisions for disciplining ‘impersonal unfair acts using superior positions.’ The revised Labor Standards Act, including the Workplace Bullying Prohibition Act, came into effect in July 2019, but does not apply to civil servants. Although a bill was proposed in the 21st National Assembly to prohibit workplace bullying for civil servants, it was not passed. Similar amendments have been proposed in the 22nd National Assembly and are currently pending.


전혜진 기자 sunrise@donga.com