Should Our Company Conduct a Job Stress Assessment? | Checklist to Easily Check Target Tasks

📌 Should our company also conduct job stress assessments?

The provision first defines the work subject to the provision and lists the measures that the employer must take for the workers performing that work. The section on the work subject to the provision is reproduced exactly as follows:

You need to read two things here. First, at the end of the four tasks 'etc' It is difficult to view only the listed tasks as the scope. Second, evaluation is merely the first of the six measures. If the process ends with just the evaluation, the remaining measures required by the provision are omitted.

No provisions regarding penalties or administrative fines directly applicable in the event of a violation have been identified. The Ministry of Employment and Labor's consultation response also referred to this as a 'recommended regulation' and advised that there are no separate standards for administrative fines. However, the provision itself "shall" Since this is a measure taken by the employer that ends with [...], it is problematic to understand it as "there is no penalty, so it is not necessary to do it."

Long working hours are verified through actual work records.

This is the point where the person in charge gets stuck the most. Article 669 does not specify the hourly standards for long working hours. Therefore, a realistic approach is for the company to establish judgment criteria and apply the same standards every year.

When establishing standards, start with the actual working hour records in the attendance system. For example Departments that had weeks exceeding the 52-hour workweek in the last three months me Top departments for monthly overtime Standards that can be verified with data, like this, are preferable. Since this number is an example of an internal standard rather than a legal one, please modify it to suit your company's circumstances and note the reason for establishing the standard. For the health management of long-hour workers, you may also refer to the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency's "Guidelines for Health Management of Long-hour Workers" (H-47-2021, Recommended Guidelines).

Let's separate night and shift work from health examination standards.

Even though both refer to 'night work,' the standards of the two systems differ. For the special health examination for night work, eligibility is determined by satisfying the time requirements specified in Annex 22 of the Enforcement Rules, whereas Article 669 considers whether 'shift work including night work' is performed.

In other words, even shift workers who do not meet the time requirements for special health examinations can be subject to the judgment under Article 669. While it is convenient to manage both systems under a single list, Please write down the criteria for creating the list separately. The method for counting irregular night shift hours is summarized in the related post below.

Driving and precision work are judged based on the actual assigned tasks.

Driving a vehicle only when it is 'full-time'

The provision attaches a proviso to vehicle driving stating that it "applies only when performed as a full-time occupation." This applies to cases where driving is the primary duty, such as delivery drivers, executive chauffeurs, and shuttle drivers. If driving is a secondary duty, such as a salesperson driving to visit a client, it is difficult to consider it eligible based solely on driving; instead, it is assessed in conjunction with other factors, such as working hours and customer service.

Precision machine operation is about 'whether to keep focusing'

The scope of precision machinery operation is not separately defined in the provisions. In practice, it is assessed based on whether fine operations or readings must be performed continuously for a long time, and whether a minor error could lead to significant losses or accidents. Representative examples include semiconductor and electronic inspection, precision machining, and measurement and reading tasks; if the basis for judgment is recorded in the remarks column of the checklist, the person in charge the following year can continue using the same criteria.

We also check the burden of office work and customer service tasks.

They are not excluded simply because they are office workers. The Ministry of Employment and Labor responds to inquiries from workplaces with only office workers Even for office workers, Article 669 of the Rules of the Act applies if they perform work involving high job stress. ...answered (Quick Internet Consultation response). Please judge based on work patterns, such as planning and development organizations with frequent overtime, or IT operations teams on duty for incident response.

Although customer service duties are not listed in Article 669, Article 41 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act separately stipulates measures for employers. Along with the question "Should our company conduct a job stress assessment?", please also check whether the following measures are in place.

I leave the basis for judgment on the task-specific checklist.

The key is to create lists by task unit rather than by department name. This is because even within the same customer support team, the assessment of phone consultations and internal operational support can differ. The table below provides examples of assessments based on common task types.

If you enter the department, task, and personnel into the 'Task List_Judgment' sheet in the attached Excel and select Yes/No for the five questions, Evaluation review (enumeration tasks), subject review (internal judgment), verification of customer response measures This is displayed automatically. On the 'Action Plan' sheet, you can manage the person in charge and schedule for 6 actions for each task identified as a target.

📥 Download Excel Checklist for Job Stress Assessment by Task

Evaluation tools are selected to suit the characteristics of the work.

The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency’s “Technical Support Regulations for the Prevention of Health Hazards Caused by Job Stress” (EG-2-2025) presents the Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS) as an evaluation tool. The basic format consists of 43 questions (8 areas) and workplaces with few physical environmental factors Shortened version of 24 questions excluding the physical environment domain You may use [this]. The "Guidelines for Measuring Job Stress Factors" (H-67-2022), which was frequently cited in the past, has been integrated into this Technical Support Regulation and abolished; therefore, please update the citation of the source in internal documents accordingly. The Technical Support Regulation is also a standard of a recommendatory nature.

• We first view the results on a group basis. Improvement measures (Nos. 1–3) are established based on results by department and work type, and units with few respondents are grouped together for reporting.
• Individual results are returned to the individual. For employees identified as high-risk, counseling is recommended on the condition of their consent, and individual results are not shared with team leaders. Health-related information must be treated as sensitive information under the Personal Information Protection Act.
• Do not forget to assess the risk of developing No. 6. The assessment of the risk of developing cerebrovascular and heart diseases is conducted in collaboration with a health manager using the results of health examinations, and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency's "Guidelines for Risk Assessment and Follow-up Management for the Prevention of Cerebrovascular and Cardiovascular Diseases in the Workplace" (H-200-2018) may be referenced.

Employees receiving evaluation notices may worry about how their results will be shared with the company. Before sending out the survey, briefly explain who will view their individual results, how they will be delivered to the company, and where to request a consultation. Employees must be able to respond comfortably to identify the actual tasks they struggle with and the areas where they need support.

Even when explaining results, it is better not to leave the responsibility of solving the cause to the employee alone. For tasks that the team can change, such as workload, schedules, or role conflicts, set deadlines with the person in charge. For personal anxiety or interpersonal difficulties, connect the employee to counseling when they request it. The two support services are not in a relationship where one substitutes for the other.

Behind the evaluation, we connect work improvement with mental care.

Once evaluation results are released, the person in charge is left with two tasks: changing the work methods of the departments that scored highly, and ensuring that employees identified as high-risk actually receive help. They often get stuck on the second task. It is common to hear complaints such as, "We handed out the results, but no one followed up with counseling."

• High-risk group counseling referral: Opening a channel that allows employees who receive results to request consultation directly without going through the company reduces the burden of use.
• Organizational Diagnosis and Improvement Tasks: You can utilize organizational diagnoses from external experts during the stage of interpreting departmental results and identifying improvement tasks.
• Training for Team Leaders: You can prevent individual results from leaking by informing the team leader in advance of the scope of result sharing and the interview method.

Items to check together with the person in charge

Q1. Do I need to make a judgment on offices with fewer than 50 employees as well?

The Ministry of Employment and Labor's consultation response advised that even for inquiries from office workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, the issue should not be excluded based on size, but rather determined based on whether there is work with high job stress. Please start by checking if such tasks exist using the checklist.

Q2. Will I be fined if I do not conduct the evaluation?

There are no penalty provisions directly applicable to violations of Article 669. However, since situations may arise where the company must explain what preventive measures were taken when an employee's health problem occurs, it is safer to keep records of subject assessment, evaluation, and improvement.

Q3. Do I have to do this every year?

The clause does not specify an implementation cycle. The company sets the periodic evaluation cycle based on internal standards, and may re-evaluate the relevant duties if work patterns change significantly, such as through the introduction of a shift system or organizational restructuring.

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