It includes a range of behavior from mild irritation and annoyances to serious abuses which can even involve forced activity beyond the boundaries of the job description.
Types of power harassment include physical or psychological attacks, segregation, excessive or demeaning work assignments, and intrusion upon the victim's personal life.
[6] The Japanese term "power harassment" (パワー・ハラスメント pawa harasumento, often shortened to pawahara) was independently coined by Yasuko Okada of Tokoha Gakuen Junior College in 2002.
[6] The 2019 act creates a new Chapter 8 that addresses “remarks and behavior of people taking advantage of their superior positions in the workplace that exceed what is necessary and appropriate for the conduct of business, thereby harming the working environment of employees.”[6][8] The law took effect for large employers on June 1, 2020.
The topic of power harassment is known in South Korea as Gapjil, and it has been recently increasingly discussed in Korean media and scholarly works.