Distinguishing Guidance from Power Harassment: A Legal View
“I thought it was guidance,” “I intended it as communication”
In modern workplaces, overt examples of power harassment, like a boss verbally abusing or physically assaulting a subordinate, have become less common. However, there are still many grey areas where bosses may think, “I thought it was guidance” or “I intended it as communication,” making it difficult to determine what is acceptable.
In an era where almost anything can be considered harassment, what should leaders know? We asked Koji Umezawa, a lawyer who has been advising both victims and perpetrators in the human resources and labor field for 15 years, about the reality of these grey areas.
Is Everything that makes me uncomfortable is power harassment wrong?
The concept of power harassment began to be recognized in society in the 1990s, around the time when the bubble burst and people began to feel the effects of the economic downturn. Later, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare defined power harassment, and in 2020, the “Power Harassment Prevention Act” (Labor Measures Comprehensive Promotion Law) was enacted. This made it mandatory for companies to take preventive measures against power harassment.
“There wasn’t a clear set of rules, but it gradually came to the surface, and this is where the concept of power harassment first appeared legally” (Attorney Koji Umezawa, hereinafter the same).
So, what specifically is defined as power harassment in legal terms? It must meet all three of the following criteria:
- It must be carried out based on a superior-subordinate relationship (with an underlying sense of superiority).
- It must exceed the scope of appropriate business conduct.
- It must cause physical or mental pain or harm the working environment.
In other words, when legally judging whether something is power harassment, these three elements are key. However, in general society, power harassment is often seen as an ethical issue.
“The common phrase on TV, ‘If the other person feels uncomfortable, it’s harassment,’ is more of an ethical perspective. But I don’t think it’s particularly meaningful to focus too much on that issue. It’s not realistic to address every complaint from someone saying, ‘I don’t like it.’
Among people in their 20s and 30s, it seems that many perceive anything that makes me uncomfortable is power harassment. But I think that’s an extreme way of thinking.”
© Koji Umezawa © Anju Wakabayashi
From “That’s Power Harassment, Isn’t It?” (Published by Diamond Inc.)
© Koji Umezawa © Anju Wakabayashi
Looking back over the past 15 years, the legal framework and concepts have not changed at all. However, there has been an increasing sense of crisis and aversion toward harassment in society… This is a feeling that remains strong on a personal level.
“I’ve felt for about 10 years that people’s threshold for what they consider harassment has been lowering. There are many instances where I find myself wondering whether this would legally qualify as power harassment. In most cases, the victim and the perpetrator have different perceptions of the facts.
It cannot be denied that victims tend to interpret things in an overly definitive manner or take them too seriously due to their feelings of disgust or fear towards the perpetrator. When victim feelings become stronger, they often lose the ability to see things from multiple perspectives.”
