Mandatory Training Guide · Occupational Safety and Health Act

🎧 Emotional labor protection training

Who must take it, how many hours, how often, the fine for skipping it, and whether online training counts — summarized under the laws in force as of September 2026.

Audience

Workplaces with employees who deal directly with customers or complaints (any size)

Training hours

No legally required hours (usually 1–2 hours)

Frequency

No legal frequency (once a year recommended)

Fine for non-compliance

KRW 3 million (≈ US$2,240) to 10 million for failing to take follow-up measures

Online allowed

Either direction

💰 Get a 3-minute quote ↓✅ Check your mandatory training in 1 minute

There is no law called the “Emotional Workers Protection Act.” That is the nickname for the amendment to the Occupational Safety and Health Act that took effect on October 18, 2018, now Article 41. It requires employers to prepare in advance so workers are not harmed by customer verbal abuse or violence, and to take the affected person off the job if it actually happens.

It is not on the usual list of “five core mandatory trainings,” so it is easy to overlook, yet training is named explicitly among the preventive measures in the Enforcement Rules. And the fines apply not to the training but to what you do after an incident. So preparing for this training means keeping a record of not just what you taught, but what you had in place.

Legal requirements at a glance

Basis: Occupational Safety and Health Act, Article 41 (Preventing health harm from customer abuse) · Enforcement Rules, Article 41 · Fines: Article 175(4)(3) · Enforcement Decree, Annex 35

Training requirement	Article 41(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to take measures to prevent health impairment among customer-service workers, and Article 41 of the Enforcement Rule lists “implementing a customer-service manual and training on preventing health impairment” as one of those measures. Unlike harassment-prevention training, this training is named explicitly in the law as a required measure.
Audience	Mainly workers who sell products or provide services by dealing with customers face to face or over telecommunications networks (phone, chat, and so on). This covers call and support centers, stores and service counters, hospital administration and nursing, and public-sector civil-complaint desks. There is no workplace size threshold.
Preventive measures employers must take	Employers must do all four: (1) post a notice or play a voice message asking customers not to use abusive language or behavior; (2) prepare a customer service manual that explains how to handle problem situations; (3) provide training on the manual’s content and on preventing health harm; (4) take any other measures needed to prevent health harm.
Measures after an incident	If verbal abuse has caused health harm, or there is a clear risk that it will, the employer must take action: temporarily suspend or reassign the work, extend rest breaks, provide treatment and counseling support, and support filing a complaint, accusation or damages claim. Since the October 2021 amendment, this applies not only to customer service workers but to any worker subjected to verbal abuse by “customers or other third parties.”
Fines	There is no administrative fine for failing to take the preventive measures themselves (Article 41(1)). However, failing to take follow-up measures (Article 41(2)) carries fines of KRW 3 million (≈ US$2,240) for a first offense, KRW 6 million (≈ US$4,490) for a second, and KRW 10 million (≈ US$7,480) for a third or later. Treating a worker unfavorably for requesting those measures is punishable by up to 1 year in prison or a fine of up to KRW 10 million (≈ US$7,480).
Relationship to occupational safety and health training	The content of regular occupational safety and health training for workers includes “preventing and managing health impairment caused by workplace harassment, abusive customers, and similar causes.” If your workplace is subject to regular training, this can be covered within those hours. Even for industries where regular training does not apply, the Article 41 preventive measures still apply.
Public institutions and government agencies	Government agencies have separate duties under Article 4 of the Civil Petitions Treatment Act and Article 4 of its Enforcement Decree, which require protective measures for petition-handling staff (safety equipment and personnel, equipment to record abuse as evidence, legal support and more).

What the training must cover

The law has no required topic list. To meet the Enforcement Rules’ requirement of “manual content and health harm prevention,” training usually covers the following.

Customer service manual: where normal service ends and where staff may stop serving a customer
Response scripts for verbal abuse, assault, and sexual harassment, plus criteria for ending a call
Authority and procedures for stopping service or escalating to a manager, so workers can decide for themselves
Recording and reporting incidents, and securing evidence (including call-recording notice wording)
Emotional recovery — understanding stress reactions, referral to counseling and treatment, and how to file an industrial accident claim
Manager role — follow-up duties and the ban on unfavorable treatment

Common points of confusion

Get the law’s name right: “Emotional Workers Protection Act” is only a nickname. In official documents and quotes, cite it as Article 41 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, “Preventing health harm from customer abuse,” so it holds up in an inspection.

Fines apply to post-incident action: failing to post a notice, prepare a manual or provide training (the preventive measures) does not trigger a fine directly. Failing to suspend or reassign work after an incident does, starting at KRW 3 million (≈ US$2,240) for a first offense. The preventive measures are what you show to prove what you had in place.

Call centers are exempt from occupational safety and health training but still covered: under Annex 1 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act Enforcement Decree, safety and health training (Article 29) does not apply to business support services (call centers, security, staffing) or to finance and insurance. But Annex 1 exempts only that training provision, not Article 41. Many companies have no regular training obligation yet are still subject to these measures.

No size threshold: even a company with fewer than 5 regular employees is covered if it has staff who serve customers. The 5-, 10- and 50-employee thresholds that apply to the five core mandatory trainings do not apply here.

Run a separate session for managers: employees who learn they may stop a call can only do so if managers back them up. The duty to act after an incident and the ban on unfavorable treatment work best when taught to managers directly.

When Nanum Consulting delivers it

Nanum Consulting delivers this subject as our Emotional Labor Protection Training program. It is led by an instructor certified as an emotional labor manager, and we adapt the scripts and cases to your setting, since call centers, service counters and hospital admissions each handle customers differently.

We don’t stop at the training session. During the session we also draft the criteria for ending an interaction, the escalation procedure to a manager, and a notice for posting, so you end up with both the manual the Enforcement Rule requires and the training records.

The manager session is separate and focuses on the duty to act after an incident (suspending or reassigning work, supporting treatment and counseling) and the ban on unfavorable treatment. This is the area where fines apply.

Request On-Site Training · Quote Calculator

The most common combination is 1 hour of emotional labor protection plus 1 hour of sexual harassment prevention, a 2-hour program at KRW 1 million (≈ US$750). For call centers and shift-based teams, we split the same content into multiple sessions.

Protecting customer-service workers — FAQ

Is emotional labor protection training a statutory mandatory training?

It is not part of the usual “five core mandatory trainings.” However, Article 41 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act Enforcement Rules lists “training on the content of the customer service manual and on preventing health harm” as one of the preventive measures employers must take. Because the law names training as a required measure, it differs from workplace harassment prevention training.

What is the fine for not complying?

There is no fine for failing to take the preventive measures themselves (Article 41(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act). But if verbal abuse has caused health harm, or clearly threatens to, and you fail to take action such as temporarily suspending or reassigning the work (Article 41(2)), the fine is KRW 3 million (≈ US$2,240) for a first offense, KRW 6 million (≈ US$4,490) for a second and KRW 10 million (≈ US$7,480) for a third or later. Treating a worker unfavorably for requesting such action is punishable by up to 1 year in prison or a fine of up to KRW 10 million (≈ US$7,480).

I heard call centers aren’t subject to occupational safety and health training. Is that right?

Under Annex 1 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act Enforcement Decree, safety and health training (Article 29) does not apply to business support services, finance and insurance and similar industries. But Annex 1 exempts only that training provision, not Article 41. If you have workers who serve customers, you are covered by the preventive measures regardless of size or industry.

How many hours, and how often?

The law sets no required hours or frequency. In practice, companies run 1–2 hours once a year, and give new hires manual training before they are assigned. If your workplace is subject to regular occupational safety and health training, that training already covers “preventing and managing health harm from customer abuse,” so you can address it within those hours.

Are public institutions and hospitals covered?

Article 41 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act applies to any workplace that employs workers, whether private or public. Government agencies also carry a separate duty to protect civil-complaint handlers under Article 4 of the Act on the Processing of Civil Petitions and Article 4 of its Enforcement Decree.

View other mandatory training

🚫 Sexual Harassment Prevention ♿ Disability Awareness 🔒 Privacy Protection ⛑️ Occupational Safety & Health 🏦 Retirement Pension 🤝 Harassment Prevention 🧮 Compliance Checker 📅 Annual Calendar 🧩 Summary Table 📖 Glossary

Legal basis · Sources

The governing law, who is covered, hours, and fines may vary by workplace size, industry, and legal amendments. This page is general information to aid understanding. Please check the relevant laws and your local Ministry of Employment and Labor office to confirm how they apply to your workplace. As of September 2026.