Wage Cuts and Meal Allowance Discrimination... 34 Financial Companies Discriminate Against Non-Regular Workers

A company was caught paying wages below the minimum wage for probationary workers. Cases of differential meal allowances between regular and fixed-term workers were also revealed.

On the 3rd, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that it had uncovered a total of 185 legal violations after inspecting 35 institutions, including savings banks, in the first quarter for discrimination against non-regular workers and violations of childcare support systems.

The inspection results showed that there were numerous cases where non-regular workers were treated unfavorably simply because of their employment status, despite performing the same duties. One savings bank excluded fixed-term workers from eligibility for tuition, medical expenses, and in-house loan support, while another savings bank did not provide welfare cards (500,000 KRW annually) and holiday gift expenses (250,000 KRW) to dispatched secretaries that were given to directly employed secretaries.

A credit card company was found to pay lunch allowances differentially?310,000 KRW per month for regular employees and 250,000 KRW for fixed-term employees?and a credit information company supported health checkups only for regular IT maintenance staff.

Additionally, 50 cases of 'non-payment of wages and benefits' were confirmed at 25 companies, including paying probationary workers less than 90% of the minimum wage and not providing overtime, holiday, or night shift allowances to executive chauffeurs.

There were also cases of sexual harassment and violations of childcare support systems. An executive at one company, who had lived in the United States and referred to it as having an "American mind," kissed female employees on the top of their heads and hugged them one by one during company dinners.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor stated that it ordered corrections for the legal violations and demanded disciplinary action against perpetrators and improvements in organizational culture at workplaces where sexual harassment occurred.

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik said, "We will do our best to create a fair labor market where workers in various employment forms receive fair compensation and can use childcare support systems without hesitation."