厚生労働省は、職場のパワハラ対策について、法律で企業に防止措置を義務付ける方針を明らかにした。2019年の通常国会への関連法案提出を目指す。
セクハラや、妊娠・出産した女性へのマタニティーハラスメント（マタハラ）には、男女雇用機会均等法などで相談窓口設置といった防止措置が企業に課されている。これに対し、パワハラ対策は企業の自主的努力に委ねられているのが現状だ。
働き手の3割超が過去3年間にパワハラ被害の経験を持つ。17年度に全国の労働局が受けた労働相談で、「いじめ・嫌がらせ」は7万2000件を超え、６年連続トップだった。パワハラによる精神障害の労災認定も88件にのぼる。
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry (Japan) has announced a policy of legally requiring corporations to take preventive measures against harassment from positions of power in the workplace. The ministry hopes to ensure relevant bills are submitted to an ordinary Diet session in 2019.
In dealing with sexual harassment and workplace discrimination against pregnant women and those with infants, companies are required to adopt preventive measures such as setting up sections for providing consultation services under the Equal Employment Opportunity Law and other legislation. In contrast, the current situation regarding preventive measures against power harassment is that corporations are left to make necessary efforts on their own initiative.
More than 30 percent of workers have experienced harassment from a position of power over the past three years. Of the consultation requests received by the ministry’s prefectural labor bureaus nationwide regarding the working environment in fiscal 2017, more than 72,000 cases concerned bullying and pestering behavior. The figure was the largest among such consultation requests for a sixth consecutive year. There were 88 cases in which mental disorders caused by harassment from positions of power were acknowledged to be work-related diseases.