Pizza Shop Owner Deducts Rent from Part-Time Worker’s Salary: "We Share the Building"

Collecting Security Deposits Up to 500,000 Won Under the Pretext of Preventing Resignation

The story of a pizza shop owner deducting part of the store rent from a part-time worker's salary has sparked outrage among netizens.

Recently, a post titled "I'm a pizza shop part-timer, and the owner says I have to pay rent too" was uploaded on an online community. The writer, A, who identified as a 20-year-old college student, said, "The owner told me that since I also use this commercial building while making pizza, I have an obligation to pay rent together, so he deducts 100,000 won from my salary for rent and pays me the remaining amount. Can I report this to the Ministry of Labor?" He continued, "Other part-timers said this has always been the case and that this is normal. When I worked part-time at convenience stores or chicken shops, the owners never asked me to pay rent separately, so I'm curious if this is right."

He explained, "The location is Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. I plan to show this post to the owner and ask again. Even if I want to quit, he said I have to complete the contract period I initially agreed to, and when I first started working, he deducted 500,000 won from my first paycheck as a deposit to prevent me from leaving easily."

After checking the comments, A edited the post to reveal the reason for asking, saying, "I don't have parents, so it's difficult to seek advice from adults around me," and added, "Today, I plan not to skip work without notice, forfeit the 500,000 won deposit, and go to the Ministry of Labor. Although losing the money is unfortunate, I consider it a social experience and will file a complaint with the Ministry of Labor for the sake of future part-timers working there."

Netizens who read A's story reacted with anger, saying things like, "Since they paid rent, the pizza shop owner can take part of the sales too," "Since business is bad, they're trying every trick to gain profit," "I've never heard or seen such logic in my life," and "This seems like fraud rather than a labor law issue."