Naver Corp.’s headquarters in Seongnam, south of Seoul (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jun. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Naver Corp., the largest online portal operator in South Korea, has decided to increase parking fees for employees and reduce overseas working days as part of a revision to its autonomous working system, industry sources said Tuesday.
In a recent announcement, the company said it will increase the parking fee for employees to a daily 20,000 won (US$14.5) from 10,000 won, citing rising inflation, according to the sources.
Additionally, it will reduce the number of overseas work days per employee from a maximum of four weeks per year to two weeks, based on the principle of working in-house twice a month that was implemented last year.
Under the current Connected Work system, which allows its employees to choose work types, such as office-based work or remote work, every six months starting in 2022, Naver employees can work outside South Korea for up to four weeks.
Naver said it has revised the working system once every year and the latest change will take effect next month.
However, unionized workers at Naver claimed the company made the decision, which affects the welfare of its employees, without consulting the labor-management council or the union in advance.
They said that employees are complaining about the hike in parking fees at the headquarters, located in Seongnam, on the southern outskirts of Seoul, and those with family overseas are affected.
The union has called on the company to review the entire Connected Work system, noting that there is still time before the changes take effect in July.
Naver said that the revision to the system is based on data from the past two years and will be reviewed again next year.
“We just suggested a new director for the Connected Work system, based on data and interviews for the past two years,” a Naver official said. “We are considering revisions to the increase in parking fees, regarding suggestions and feedback from our employees.”
(Yonhap)
