Over the "worker death from overwork" issue, the bakery cafe London Bagel Museum has been under a labor inspection by the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) since the end of Oct., and it was learned on the 9th that it has already been hit with 1 billion won in fines. Once the investigation into violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act is completed, the fines are expected to reach 3 billion to 4 billion won. If violations of the Labor Standards Act are added, the amount of fines could grow further.
So far, the ministry has conducted labor inspections at 18 London Bagel Museum branches. Among them, eight locations (44%) were found to have violated the Occupational Safety and Health Act and were fined 100 million won. The branch with the largest amount of fines was the London Bagel Museum Jeju branch (36 million won). Some branches have already paid the fines.
The ministry is calculating fines for the remaining 10 branches. In the industry, people say "the total fines for the 18 branches will reach 3 billion to 4 billion won."
This time, the ministry levied fines only for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act at London Bagel Museum branches. It checked whether the employer took necessary measures to prevent industrial accidents. At London Bagel Museum, many cases were reportedly found of failing to provide industrial safety training when hiring workers and failing to post safety and health signs.
There is an outlook that the amount of fines for London Bagel Museum could increase further. In addition to violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the ministry is also looking into potential violations of the Labor Standards Act. A ministry official said, "Labor inspections on violations of the Labor Standards Act are also underway," adding, "it takes time until those fines are imposed."
Earlier, the ministry began a labor inspection of London Bagel Museum on Oct. 29. All branches nationwide and related companies were included. They are LBM headquarters; London Bagel Museum Anguk, Dosan, Jamsil, Yeouido, Seongsu, Seongsu CC, Seongnam, Suwon, Incheon, and Jeju branches; Artist Bakery Anguk branch; Layered Yeouido, Yeonnam, Busan, and Jeju branches; and Highwest Ikseon and Pangyo branches.
In Jul., it became known that a man in his 20s who worked as a junior manager at the London Bagel Museum Incheon branch had died, prompting the ministry to launch a labor inspection. The bereaved family claimed that the deceased worked close to 80 hours a week just before death and died from overwork.