Delivery trucks are parked at a Coupang depot in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — The labor ministry on Tuesday vowed to take stern action against U.S. e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. amid allegations the company violated a set of workplace laws.
The remark came after the Ministry of Employment and Labor launched a task force to investigate suspected violations of labor and industrial accident laws, which came to the surface following the company’s recent data breach that affected 33.7 million users, or about two-thirds of the South Korean population.
Specifically, the team plans to investigate reports that the company engaged in the illegal dispatch of workers and operated programs aimed at laying off low-performance workers.
The team will also look into allegations that the company pressured the family of a deceased worker, whose death was presumed to be linked to overwork, to sign a settlement on the condition that they would not file for industrial accident compensation.
“Concealing industrial accidents and the illegal dispatch of workers are serious crimes that deny workers’ basic rights,” Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon said, noting the government intends to take action without tolerance if any violations are confirmed.
(Yonhap)
