"Make Them Work Overtime, Withhold the Allowances"...All 49 Manufacturing and Airline Workplaces Found in Violation

As a result of the government's integrated planned inspections targeting the practice of long working hours, legal violations were uncovered at every workplace subject to inspection. Widespread violations were identified, including delayed wage payments, breaches of maximum working-hour limits, and failures to implement safety and health management.

According to the results of the "Integrated Planned Inspections to Eradicate Long Working Hours and Prevent Industrial Accidents" announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 23rd, a total of 261 legal violations were found across all 49 workplaces, including 45 in manufacturing and 4 airlines. There were 179 violations in the area of labor standards and 82 in the area of industrial safety, showing breaches across overall working conditions.

The inspection period ran for about three months starting from October 16 last year, focusing on the actual operation status over the past year at workplaces operating shift systems and those that repeatedly used special extended work. This inspection was carried out with the aim of conducting integrated checks in both labor standards and industrial safety, at a time when long working hours are being identified as a structural cause of industrial accidents, and of improving the very structure that generates long working hours, going beyond merely detecting simple legal violations.

Legal violations at all workplaces...Concentrated on delayed wages and working-hour breaches

Specifically, at manufacturing workplaces, violations of the extended work-hour limits were found at 24 sites (53.3%), and delayed payment of wages totaling about 2.23 billion won in overtime, night, and holiday allowances occurred at 29 sites (64.4%).

Among the workplaces that violated the extended work-hour limits, 21 were operating shift systems, and it was found that excess hours were concentrated during night shifts. Errors in calculating ordinary wages, misuse of comprehensive wage systems, and deteriorating business conditions were cited as the main causes.

In the field of industrial safety, failures in health management and training systems stood out. Non-compliance with health and medical management measures was found at 24 sites (53.3%), and failure to implement safety and health education and management systems was identified at 29 sites (64.4%). Numerous cases were detected where basic protective measures were insufficient, such as failure to conduct special health examinations, non-compliance with standards for rest facilities, and failure to appoint safety managers.

Kim Younghoon, Minister of Employment and Labor, is giving a special lecture during a dialogue with field inspectors at EL Tower in Yangjae, Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 14th. Yonhap News.

Multiple violations at airlines as well...Crew working-condition problems identified

At the four airlines, 18 violations were also identified. At three of them, cases were uncovered where night-work allowances were not paid by recognizing only pure flight time as working hours. Discriminatory treatment of allowances for fixed-term crew members was also confirmed. Violations of regulations protecting pregnant and postpartum workers and cases of exceeding limits on overtime work were detected, and the practice of operating annual leave scheduling without clearly defined procedures for changing leave periods was pointed out as an area requiring institutional improvement.

In the case of Company A, approximately 554 million won in guaranteed flight allowances was not paid to a total of 235 fixed-term workers on the grounds of differences in skill level, and some 1.6 million won in night-work allowances was also not paid. In addition, due to the practice of making lump-sum compensation for holiday-work allowances at the beginning of the following year, 75 million won in holiday-work allowances was not paid, resulting in a total of 630 million won in unpaid wages.

The government has ordered corrective measures, imposed fines, and mandated full payment of unpaid wages at the violating workplaces, and plans to pursue criminal action in the event of repeated violations. It also announced a strict response to industrial safety violations, including immediate criminal measures and fines.

Han Jinseon, Director of the Wage and Working Hours Policy Division at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "We will expand the number of workplaces subject to inspections on long working hours to about 200 this year, and for workplaces that voluntarily improve, we plan to provide both consulting and incentive support."