Hospitals to face mandatory workplace culture audits; high-risk sites referred for labor inspections

The government will conduct special audits of workplace harassment and organizational culture at hospitals, with a focus on the practice known as "taeum" — a form of hazing directed at nurses. Medical institutions that apply for consulting must undergo the audits, and high-risk facilities that refuse to act on improvement recommendations will lose consulting support and be referred for labor inspections.

The Korea Labor Foundation and the Korean Hospital Association signed an MOU Thursday at the association's office in Mapo-gu, Seoul, to provide hospital-sector workplace innovation consulting. The agreement follows a broader joint MOU signed the same morning by six institutions — including the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Employment and Labor — under the initiative "Creating Safe Hospitals Where People Want to Work."

The centerpiece of the initiative is a special organizational culture audit tailored to the healthcare sector. Beyond the existing baseline assessment covering personnel systems and labor law compliance, the audits will examine issues specific to nurses and other hospital staff — including mutual-respect culture, psychological safety, the risk of workplace harassment such as taeum, reporting and protection systems, preceptor programs and shift-work arrangements. Any medical institution that applies for consulting must complete the special audit.

Audit results will be classified into three tiers: satisfactory, needs improvement and high-risk. Institutions rated high-risk will receive a strong recommendation to undergo organizational culture improvement consulting. Hospitals that refuse to carry out the improvement tasks identified by the audit will be dropped from consulting support and referred for labor inspections.

The initiative also lowers the bar for hospital participation. Hospitals recommended by the Korean Hospital Association will be placed on a fast track, bypassing the standard screening process and moving directly into consulting. Fast-track hospitals will receive organizational culture improvement consulting regardless of their audit results and will be exempt from co-payment requirements for improvement work. The support has been in effect since Aug. 3.

Support is also available for hospitals that do not seek consulting. Online courses covering organizational culture improvement and workplace harassment prevention will be offered, along with in-person training for hospital directors, managers and staff. A standard manual addressing key organizational culture issues in healthcare — including workplace harassment, communication and leadership — will be produced and distributed to member hospitals of the Korean Hospital Association.

Park Jong-pil, secretary-general of the Korea Labor Foundation, said the agreement would help the foundation "actively support efforts to root out harmful practices and cultures within medical institutions — including so-called taeum and workplace harassment — and build a healthy working environment where hospitals and their staff can grow together."