Ministry of Employment and Labor Launches Fourth Inspection on Comprehensive Wage Abuse in Seoul Finance Sector... Focused Supervision in Jung-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has launched the fourth relay special inspection focused on monitoring the possible abuse of the comprehensive wage system in financial businesses and related service sectors, such as financial call centers, located in Jung-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. This follows a series of reports to the anonymous reporting center, marking the second intensive inspection in the Seoul area.

The ministry announced that, starting July 20, it will carry out the "Fourth Regional Relay Special Inspection on Abuse of the Comprehensive Wage System" targeting financial and related service sector workplaces in Jung-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu. This inspection is part of a regional supervision initiative based on reports submitted to the "Anonymous Reporting Center for Abuse of the Comprehensive Wage and Fixed Overtime System," which has been operating since May 14, and will focus especially on workplaces suspected of legal violations.

Kim Younghun, Minister of Employment and Labor, visited the four-day workweek ward at Severance Hospital in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on the 16th to encourage workers. Photo by Yonhap News

This particular inspection is the second regional inspection to be conducted in Seoul, following the first in May in the Guro and Gasan Digital Complex areas. The ministry explained that additional inspections became necessary as anonymous tips from the Seoul area continued even after the first inspection.

The supervision will focus mainly on financial businesses and financial call centers, which have recently seen a concentration of reports. The main areas of scrutiny include failure to monitor managers' work hours, non-payment of night and holiday work allowances, non-disclosure of salary calculation methods, lack of distinction between base salary and allowances, and exceeding the legal limits for overtime—common forms of suspected abuse under the comprehensive wage system.

Earlier, in the first special inspection last May targeting seven workplaces in the Guro and Gasan Digital Complex areas, violations of labor-related laws were identified at every site inspected. Detected cases included paying only fixed overtime pay without recording or monitoring actual work hours—resulting in unpaid overtime allowances—as well as surpassing the legal limit for extended work hundreds of times and failure to pay annual leave allowances.

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon stated, "In regions where anonymous reports continue, we will conduct repeated inspections to root out illegal labor practices. By focusing on the calculation and payment status of allowances in the financial hubs of Jung-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, we aim to establish a workplace culture where people are fairly compensated for their work."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.