A cafe owner who sued a part-time worker for allegedly taking three drinks without permission was found to have also withheld wages from other employees. The owner was also caught signing unfair labor contracts requiring employees to compensate for store losses. The workplace harassment claimed by the affected part-timer was acknowledged as well.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Wednesday that it confirmed legal violations, including unpaid wages and unfair labor contracts, after conducting a targeted inspection of a franchise coffee store in Cheongju. The store owner had drawn public outrage when it was revealed in March this year that the owner had sued a part-time worker for allegedly taking three drinks without permission.
According to the ministry's investigation, the owner failed to properly pay wages owed to employees through a method known as "business splitting." The owner operated the coffee store and a dessert store as if they were separate businesses, making the dessert store a workplace with fewer than five full-time employees, and did not pay employees overtime, night, and holiday work premiums. As a result, 49 employees were not paid a total of 3 million won.
Illegal provisions were also found in the labor contract signed with the part-time worker who suffered the lawsuit. The contract contained provisions imposing damages liability on the employee by calculating store losses in the event of non-performance of the contract. It also included a provision stipulating that only 90% of wages would be paid if an employee resigned after working less than three months. The ministry, viewing these provisions as violating the prohibition on predetermined penalty clauses under the Labor Standards Act, filed criminal charges against the owner.
The workplace harassment complaint filed by the affected part-time worker was also acknowledged. Last month, the competent labor office determined that the owner's actions constituted workplace harassment under the Labor Standards Act and imposed a fine.
In addition, cases of part-time workers receiving unfair treatment were confirmed at about 30 other franchise cafes and restaurants in the Cheongju area.
