By Park Jae-hyuk
Lotte and SK Broadband are among private enterprises adding irregular workers to the regular payroll, apparently in line with President Moon Jae-in’s labor policy to remove irregular jobs at state-invested public firms.
Lotte Group subsidiaries have begun to check the number and labor conditions of their irregular employees. The nation’s fifth-largest conglomerate is also considering raising its minimum wage and improving labor conditions of those workers as well. Part-timers working for 7-Eleven and Lotteria, both operated by Lotte, are also expected to get salary boosts.
Announcing the group’s reform plans last October, Chairman Shin Dong-bin declared he would convert 10,000 irregular workers to regular ones by 2019.
The number of irregular workers at Lotte’s nine listed firms is 3,251, which is about 6.7 percent of all Lotte employees.
However, Lotte’s unlisted companies employ around 20,000 irregular workers, according to industry officials.
Lotte vowed to fulfill the chairman’s promise, but the company denied the expectations of some that the group will implement the plan this year.
“We have yet to map out any specific plan,” a Lotte Group spokesman said. “Also, our plan is not related to the government’s policy, as we unveiled the plan far before the new administration came to power.”
SK Broadband established a more specific blueprint than Lotte.
The telecom company announced earlier this week it would hire on 5,200 subcontracted workers as regular workers starting July, after founding a service-specialized subsidiary with 46 billion won ($41 million) in capital.
SK Broadband said it will not renew its contracts with subcontractors, but it vowed to compensate them.
In the finance sector, Citibank Korea and Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) plan to give their contract employees permanent positions.
Shinhan Bank is also considering turning its irregular office workers into regular ones. NH Bank, which has the largest number of irregular workers among the five major commercial banks, is expected to disclose its plan to reduce their number.
In the retail industry, the With Me convenience store chain, which is operated by E-mart, recently vowed to hire exemplary franchise employees as regular workers.
These workers will enjoy company welfare just like regular employees working for the headquarters, while running their own convenience stores, according to E-mart.
Critics, however, pointed out that private enterprises’ hasty decisions may bring unpleasant consequences.
SK Broadband’s subcontractors, for instance, decided to take legal action against the conglomerate. They claimed SK Broadband is extorting them of their work.
Some labor experts also warned that the workers at subsidiaries will probably suffer from discrimination in terms of wages and welfare. Their job security may also be threatened, because the headquarters may sell or shut down the subsidiary, they said.