Labor Attorneys Publish Practical Guide on Workplace Harassment Investigations

Two certified labor attorneys with extensive field experience have published a comprehensive guide covering the entire grievance-handling process for sexual harassment, workplace bullying, and stalking cases, approaching these issues "from reality, not from manuals."

"Practical Guide to Sexual Harassment, Bullying, and Stalking Grievance Handling," written by Park Jeong-yeon and Jang Yeon-su of Maro Labor Law Firm, has been published by Bakyoungsa.

Co-author Park Jeong-yeon graduated from Chung-Ang University's law department and gained organizational field experience at Korea Electric Power Corporation before becoming a certified labor attorney. She completed doctoral coursework in labor law at Ewha Womans University Law School and currently serves as vice chairwoman of the Korean Association of Certified Public Labor Attorneys, leading efforts to improve workplace bullying and sexual harassment systems and education.

Park has conducted investigations, deliberations, and consultations at various institutions across public, cultural, and energy sectors, including serving as outside director at the Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education, director of the Korean Film Gender Equality Center, audit advisory committee member at the Arts Council Korea, sexual harassment deliberation committee member at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, and external human rights management committee member at Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation. She is recognized as a practitioner who has established standards for "fair investigation" based on field experience.

Co-author Jang Yeon-su majored in mechanical engineering at Korea University and worked as a researcher at Doosan and Hanwha, gaining industrial field experience before transitioning to become a certified labor attorney with expertise in labor affairs. He currently handles workplace bullying and sexual harassment investigations and grievance-handling consultations for government agencies and private companies at Maro Labor Law Firm, while serving as an investigation and deliberation committee member at multiple institutions.

Jang continues to deliver practical lectures on investigation practices, interview techniques, report writing, and prevention education that are "immediately applicable in the field." He also participates in designing systems to ensure stable grievance-handling procedures in the workplace as a member of the Korean Association of Certified Public Labor Attorneys' system improvement committee and the new government's labor policy task force.

The two authors compiled their experience accumulated through consultations, investigations, grievance deliberations, and disciplinary committee participation at the Fair Sexual Harassment and Bullying Investigation Center under Maro Labor Law Firm.

Written to answer the numerous questions of "what should I do in this case" that arose during lectures, the book provides standards and forms that grievance-handling officers can directly apply in practice, from investigation questionnaires and fact-finding organization to investigation reports and disciplinary resolution documents, confidentiality maintenance, prevention of secondary victimization, and recurrence prevention measures.

The criminal law sections were reviewed by Cho Seong-yoon, an attorney at Kim & Chang, who served as a prosecutor for 15 years handling anti-corruption, economic, and public safety cases. The book is notable for realistically addressing the intersection between internal organizational grievance handling and criminal procedures by incorporating criminal law issues including the Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes.

The authors define their book as "not a completed theoretical text, but an ongoing tool to be updated together in the field." They hope this publication will serve as a practical guide enabling "accurate, fair, swift, and sensitive responses" for HR, audit, and grievance-handling officers, labor and legal affairs managers, and investigation and deliberation committee members.