This file photo, taken Dec. 5, 2017, shows a Paris Baguette store in Daejeon, central Korea. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A subsidiary of Paris Baguette, a leading bakery franchise, is once again under fire for failing to pay the proper amount to bakers by manipulating working hours.
The company faced similar accusations in 2017 when one of its partner firms withheld from paying out 9 billion won (US$8.2 million) to its employees, as revealed in a labor probe.
The National Union of Laborers in Chemical, Fabric, Food Industries claimed Wednesday that Paris Baguette set excessive production quotas, while manipulating working hours to evade 52-hour workweek regulations.
For one, the union accused Paris Baguette’s local chain in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province of reporting 20 minutes of overtime as only 10 minutes last October, a clear manipulation of working hours.
Last November, another Paris Baguette store in Seoul’s Gwanak District report 42 minutes of overtime as 12 minutes.
During the Christmas season, many employees at Paris Baguette work overtime to meet surging demand for cakes.
The company, however, refused to hire more staff, asking employees instead to underreport their working hours and request overtime pay from the local store manager.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
