Recovered 19.4 Billion Won in Unpaid Subcontracting Fees Amid 'Seol Holiday Gapjil'

Fair Trade Commission Operates Unfair Subcontracting Report Center
Emphasizes Benefits of Prompt Payment to Encourage Payments

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 16th that through the 'Unfair Subcontracting Report Center' operated ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, unpaid payments amounting to 19.4 billion KRW were induced to be paid.

In preparation for the Lunar New Year, the Fair Trade Commission established and operated Unfair Subcontracting Report Centers at 10 locations nationwide, including five local offices of the Commission, from December 18 last year to the 7th of this month to ensure subcontract payments were made on time.

The report centers actively encouraged the payment of funds by the primary contractors or agreements between parties from the consultation stage to ensure that unpaid subcontract payments were promptly paid before the holiday.

Even after a dispute mediation application or formal report was received, the Commission emphasized that if the primary contractor immediately pays the unpaid amount, they may avoid corrective actions or penalties from the Fair Trade Commission, thereby inducing prompt payment.

Additionally, to alleviate the financial burden on small and medium-sized enterprises ahead of the holiday, the report centers requested major companies to cooperate in making early payments of subcontracting fees scheduled for after the holiday. As a result, 96 major companies made early payments totaling 5.7568 trillion KRW to 17,901 small and medium subcontractors.

The Fair Trade Commission stated, "Among the cases received during the operation period of the report centers, companies found to have violated the law will be encouraged to voluntarily correct their actions, and if they do not, strict measures such as on-site investigations will be taken."

It added, "We will continue to conduct inspections on unfair subcontracting transactions and focus our efforts to establish a practice where subcontract payments are made on time."