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The Ministry of Labor's Amendments to the 5th Edition of the “Guidelines for the Prevention of Workplace Unlawful Infringement”
The Ministry of Labor's Amendments to the 5th Edition of the “Guidelines for the Prevention of Workplace Unlawful Infringement”
Susan Lo/Gloria Chu
On July 14, 2026, the Ministry of Labor announced amendments to the 5th edition of the “Guidelines for the Prevention of Workplace Unlawful Infringement,” and the amended Guidelines took effect on the same day. The amended Guidelines provide employers with a reference framework for occupational safety and health measures designed to prevent employees, in the course of performing their duties, from suffering physical or psychological harm as a result of unlawful conducts in the workplace by employers, officers, co-employees, service recipients, or third parties. The major contents are as follows:
1. The term “workplace unlawful infringement,” as used in the amended Guidelines, means any act committed in the course of an employee’s performance of duties at the workplace by a service recipient, third party, employer, officer, or co-employee, whereby violence, assault, or inappropriate words or conducts are carried out through speech, writing, physical gestures, electronic communications, the Internet, or any other means, resulting in unlawful physical or psychological harm to the employee. However, in cases of sexual harassment, stalking, and bullying, the provisions of the Gender Equality in Employment Act, the Act on the Prevention of Stalking, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act shall take precedence, respectively.
2. Business entities shall expressly declare zero tolerance for workplace unlawful infringement as a matter of policy. The Ministry of Labor recommends that relevant preventive measures be incorporated into the business entity’s occupational safety and health policies or work rules. Upon agreement between an employer and the employees, the employer shall publicly disclose the relevant preventive policies and measures in writing and shall further promote such policies in public so as to ensure that all employees and third parties clearly understand them.
3. With respect to organizational design, an employer shall authorize and designate a dedicated department or personnel, such as those responsible for occupational safety and health management, risk management, or human resources, to be in charge of overall planning and coordination of the workplace unlawful infringement prevention plan or related measures, and shall appoint a senior executive to serve as the supervising and managing officer, while promoting the participation of all employees within the company.
4. With respect to planning and implementation, an employer shall, in order to prevent employees from suffering unlawful physical or psychological harm caused by the conduct of others in the course of performing their duties, adopt violence prevention measures and maintain records or documentation of implementation for a period of three (3) years. Such measures shall include identification and assessment of hazards, appropriate arrangement of the workplace; appropriate adjustment of staffing in accordance with the nature and suitability of the work; establishment of behavioral codes; provision of training on hazard prevention and communication skills; establishment and public posting of complaint channels; establishment of procedures for the filing, investigation, and handling of complaints and incidents; provision or referral, at the complainant’s request, of legal, medical, or psychological counseling assistance or protective measures; evaluation and improvement of implementation effectiveness; and other matters relating to occupational safety and health. Where the number of employees employed by the business entity reaches 100 or more, an employer shall separately formulate and implement a prevention plan regarding unlawful infringement encountered in the course of duty. Where the number of employees employed is fewer than 100, records or documentation of implementation may be used in lieu thereof.
Our firm’s “Labor Practice Group” has long assisted enterprises in aligning with amendments to labor laws and in revising their internal rules and regulations accordingly. If you require assistance incorporating the new Guidelines into your company’s overall occupational safety and health management policy, you are welcome to contact the specialists of our Labor Practice Group at any time.