Labor Ministry confirms sex crime, wage theft at Incheon disability workplace, moves to revoke certification

The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Monday it had conducted a special inspection and referred the case to prosecutors after allegations emerged that a company executive in his 70s sexually assaulted a female worker with an intellectual disability in her 20s at a disability employment workplace in Incheon.

Through the special inspection, conducted jointly with the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the ministry confirmed that sex crimes and other human rights violations, as well as wage theft, had occurred at the workplace. It immediately filed criminal charges and imposed administrative fines.

The ministry determined that the incident seriously undermined the purpose of the standard workplace certification system for persons with disabilities — a regime designed to provide stable and suitable working conditions for disabled workers — and launched proceedings to revoke the workplace's certification.

In addition, the ministry said it plans to introduce a "one-strike-out" policy under which it would immediately revoke certification at any workplace where a serious human rights violation against a person with disabilities occurs.

To prevent similar incidents, the ministry will conduct routine inspections of 100 certified standard workplaces for disabled persons — focusing on those employing large numbers of female workers with disabilities and those with suspected human rights violations such as wage theft — through Aug. 21. The Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities, which carried out emergency inspections of 115 workplaces in June, has also been conducting a comprehensive human rights review of all standard workplaces since July.

The ministry and the agency said they will respond strictly to any legal violations and strengthen oversight to prevent similar incidents from recurring.