“The temperature is over 30 degrees, but I can’t turn on the air conditioner. I’m dying from the heat, but I’m working hard.” (Employee A)
“I have an air conditioner, but I haven’t turned it on for two or three weeks. There was an article posted in a group chat room about high electricity bills. It’s too hot, so I can’t go out.” (Employee B)
It was found that many office workers do not receive안전놀이터 proper cooling support from their companies even though the severity of heat waves is increasing day by day due to the climate crisis. In some cases, users did not provide air conditioning under the pretext of electricity bills, and fired office workers who demanded air conditioning.
On the 20th, the labor law group Workplace Gapjil 119 revealed stories sent by office workers, saying, “There are reports that the working environment is deteriorating due to the heat wave.”
One day in July, when the heat wave was in full swing, academy instructor C taught for 7 hours from 2:50 pm to 9:30 pm with the air conditioner broken. The room temperature checked by the student’s smartwatch was 30 degrees. Mr. C said to Workplace Gapjil 119, “The director is usually saving money, so it’s unlikely that he will fix the air conditioner.”
There was also an example of setting the air conditioning operation standard too high. One informant reported that her mother went to work sweating every day because the air conditioner operation standard of the factory where her mother works is ‘more than 80% humidity’.
One office worker received a notice of dismissal after getting into a minor argument with the boss over the operation of the air conditioner on a day when the temperature exceeded 30 degrees. He said, “In the dismissal notice, only the date is written, and the reason is completely blank.”
Workplace Gabjil 119 said that workers are not properly protected because the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s ‘Guide to Prevention of Heat-related Illnesses Due to Heatwaves in Summer’ is only a recommendation.
Workplace Gapjil 119 Labor Attorney Park Hye-young said, “Continuous exposure to heat waves while working can be viewed as being physically and mentally continuously harmed by the company, and the more undemocratic or humanely treated, the more severe this damage is.” Workers who are exhausted from the heatwave are naturally more likely to be exposed to various diseases or accidents. I hope it will become a society where it is common sense that the company is responsible for creating an appropriate working environment.”