[Anchor]

A famous eyewear brand and a major accounting firm have been caught violating labor laws by forcing employees to work long hours without pay. They habitually broke the law by abusing the discretionary labor system, working staff beyond the 52-hour workweek without providing overtime pay.

Reporter Jeon Hyeong-u has the story.

[Reporter]

Designers at the eyewear brand Gentle Monster said they did not receive overtime pay despite working more than 70 hours a week, under the pretext of the discretionary labor system.

[Person A/Former Gentle Monster Designer (Last February): "We were aware that we wouldn't get paid even if we worked overtime. We just kept working without even having time to sleep."]

Even under the discretionary labor system, where the hours agreed upon by labor and management are considered working hours, additional pay for night and holiday work must be provided.

An inspection by the Ministry of Employment and Labor revealed that IICOMBINED, the operator of Gentle Monster, failed to pay 430 million won in night, holiday, and overtime allowances to 464 employees, including those under the discretionary labor system.

There were 115 cases of employees working beyond the 52-hour workweek, and it was also confirmed that the company had forced a pregnant employee to work at night without authorization from the Ministry of Labor.

Labor law violations were also found at Samjong KPMG, where two accountants in their 30s died last November and this March, raising suspicions of death from overwork.

It was found that the firm failed to pay a total of 630 million won in night, holiday, and overtime allowances to approximately 2,600 employees while operating the discretionary labor system.

The Ministry of Labor issued a corrective order to both companies for forcing 'free labor' on their employees and imposed fines of 5.8 million won and 14 million won, respectively.

IICOMBINED stated that it has completed the payment of the unpaid wages, and Samjong KPMG also announced that it plans to immediately comply with the inspection results.

[Kim Sang-eun, Lawyer/Chair of the Labor Committee at Minbyun - Lawyers for a Democratic Society: "To prevent the abuse of the discretionary labor system from recurring, it is necessary to make it a principle to impose criminal penalties for wage arrears."]

Starting today (July 1), the Ministry of Labor has begun a planned inspection of 100 workplaces across the country suspected of excessive working hours.

Video Editing: Ahn Yeo-jin