Harassment on Special types of Workers and Business Owner’s Duty of Care

Harassment is the same risk that can occur at any time in any type of labor supply contract. Therefore, the party receiving the labor shall bear the obligation to prevent the person providing the labor from being bullied by him(her) or the third party(customer, etc) and to take appropriate measures in the event of harassment.<br/> Although such obligation is not only based on the labor contracts under the Labor Standards Act, it is regrettable that the Supreme Court ruling of 2024 was judged only on the labor contracts under the Labor Standards Act. In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which is the only protective legislation for the harassment of special types of workers has insufficient measures. It contains the obligations to protect only against abusive language and behavior from customers, the third paty, excruding business owners.<br/> In light of the basic philosophy of safety and health that the same risk management should be performed for the same risk, the Occupational Safety and Health Act should also implement anti-bullying measures for special types of workers corresponding to the Labor Standards Act.