[2022 National Audit] One in Five Saemaeul Geumgo Branches Reported for Labor Law Violations Amid 'Gapjil' Controversy

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Recently, Saemaeul Geumgo, which has been embroiled in a controversy over power harassment by making employees cook and do laundry, has been reported for labor law violations 291 times over the past five years.

According to the "Recent 5-Year Saemaeul Geumgo Labor Law Violation Report Handling Details" submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 4th to Kim Young-jin, a member of the Environment and Labor Committee of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party of Korea, there were 237 labor office complaints, 47 criminal complaints, and 7 other cases. Considering that there are 1,295 Saemaeul Geumgo headquarters nationwide, Kim's office stated that one out of five Saemaeul Geumgo branches has been reported for labor law violations.

By year, there were 61 cases in 2017, 56 in 2018, 27 in 2019, 44 in 2020, 52 in 2021, and 25 cases as of July 2022. While violation reports decreased until 2019, they increased from 2020 onward.

By law violated, the cases were as follows: 230 under the Labor Standards Act, 50 under the Retirement Benefits Act, 27 under the Labor Union Act, 18 under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, 6 under the Worker Participation Act, and 3 under the Minimum Wage Act (overlapping counts when multiple laws applied).

These cases were processed as follows: 28 prosecutions, 17 partial prosecutions, 17 non-prosecutions, 3 fines, 59 rights remedies, 28 cases of withdrawal of complaint, 8 legal exemptions, 29 no intention to report, 45 no violations, 1 transfer closure, and 56 other administrative closures.

The laws violated in prosecuted cases were 19 under the Labor Standards Act, 13 under the Labor Union Act, and 4 under the Retirement Benefits Act. Partially prosecuted cases included 10 under the Labor Standards Act, 8 under the Labor Union Act, 4 under the Retirement Benefits Act, and 2 under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.

Rep. Kim said, "Repeated labor rights violations by Saemaeul Geumgo, including power harassment controversies, clearly reveal the blind spots in labor rights for workers in small-scale domestic workplaces," adding, "The labor authorities must consider all measures such as strengthening labor supervision, increasing labor law fines, and publicly disclosing violating workplaces to devise strong countermeasures."

Meanwhile, Park Cha-hoon, president of the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association, is scheduled to appear as a witness at the Ministry of Employment and Labor's National Assembly audit held at the Government Sejong Complex on the 5th.