[비즈한국] Companies sometimes make decisions that are difficult to explain with money alone. Knowing the hidden laws and systems behind them allows for a deeper understanding of the inner workings. ‘Useful Business Tips (Al-Sseul-Bi-Beop)’ introduces clues to help understand business trends.
Dealing with people is hard. It would be better to operate machines or repeat fixed tasks. After suffering from malicious complainants all day, one begins to feel skeptical about human nature. Human nature is evil (Theory of Original Sin), and this world is a "war of all against all." The idea that one must be unconditionally kind to customers is nothing more than idle armchair theory.
Do these words sound extreme? If so, I recommend working part-time at a restaurant or café for about a week. I often hear various stories from ‘owners’ who run service businesses. Most of them are bizarre and beyond comprehension.
At first, I tried to understand the psychological state of malicious complainants and the causal relationships leading to their protests. However, it was incomprehensible anyway, and I gave up because the attempt felt like peering into the darker side of humanity.
In Korea, the service industry is considered less developed compared to the manufacturing sector. The younger and more talented the workforce, the more they avoid the service industry. If a company or a job role has the reputation of being the "ultimate in emotional labor," the MZ generation will never apply. Where does the cause of this situation lie? I believe it is largely because our society has given up on responding to malicious complainants.
Management is uninterested in the difficulties faced by frontline workers dealing directly with malicious complainants. They simply instruct, "Always be unconditionally kind to customers." They dismiss the struggles of frontline workers as minor issues that are bound to happen at work.
However, the difficulty for frontline workers does not lie in the malicious complaints themselves. Instead, it lies in them having to monitor their own behavior, fearing that their attitude or reaction might cause disadvantage to the organization or company. From this perspective, it is commendable that recent laws have imposed obligations on employers to protect emotional laborers.
‘Emotional labor’ refers to labor that requires one to express or regulate specific emotions expected by an organization or customer during the performance of duties. In simpler terms, it refers to labor where, even if one feels sad or angry, one must display the emotions and expressions required by the workplace to the customer.
Article 41 (Preventive Measures against Health Impairment due to Verbal Abuse, etc. by Customers), Paragraph 1 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act defines the employer's duty to protect workers engaged in emotional labor as follows:
"An employer shall take necessary measures, as prescribed by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, to prevent health impairment caused by verbal abuse, assault, or other acts by customers that cause physical or mental distress beyond reasonable limits (verbal abuse, etc.) to customer-service workers who primarily deal with customers face-to-face or via information and communications networks to sell products or provide services."
Article 41 of the Enforcement Decree of the Occupational Safety and Health Act prescribes protective measures for emotional laborers, such as △temporary suspension or transfer of tasks, △extension of break times, △provision of medical or counseling support, and △support for filing complaints, accusations, or claims for damages regarding verbal abuse. Furthermore, Article 41 of the Enforcement Rule of the Occupational Safety and Health Act mandates preventive measures such as △posting notices or providing voice guidance to prevent verbal abuse by customers, △preparing manuals for customer service that include response methods for problematic situations, and △conducting relevant training.
Due to the aforementioned legal provisions, one can recently hear phone connection greetings when calling customer centers, such as, "A customer's words can hurt our representative. We would appreciate it if you could consider our representative as your own family." Posters with phrases like "Emotions are precious to everyone" or "Indiscriminate verbal abuse, assault, or sexual harassment may be punished according to relevant laws" are posted on the walls of public service offices. Sometimes, service staff wear vests or badges displaying similar phrases.
These basic measures can be easily adapted to various situations. For example, displaying messages urging compliance with relevant provisions protecting emotional labor before starting a chat consultation, or displaying them on online sales pages. Furthermore, employers need to communicate company policies to protect their employees. Here are a few examples (excerpts from the Ministry of Employment and Labor's ‘Health Protection Guide for Emotional Labor Workers’):
① In the event of problems caused by verbal abuse or assault by customers, workers may temporarily suspend work, be separated from the customer, and leave the location of the incident.
② It is not desirable to unconditionally apologize or provide excessive money or benefits to customers making unreasonable demands.
③ Customers who cause problems due to verbal abuse or assault shall not be served again by the same employee.
It is also necessary to establish a series of action plans and manuals, including △requesting restraint and immediate warnings, △notifying before recording, △promptly stopping the behavior, △ending the task, △reporting to a supervisor, △requesting police assistance, and △reviewing legal action.
As always, complying with newly implemented laws requires a considerable amount of time and cost. Although the issue of protecting emotional laborers is often neglected, it would be wise to start with small procedures to protect employees and maintain their morale.