The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said on the 15th that it will launch a planned inspection of Booyoung Housing's headquarters over alleged unpaid wages.
It is a follow-up measure related to a worker at subcontractor A, which was hired by Booyoung Housing for building re-repairs, who said the worker was struggling to make ends meet due to unpaid wages and staged consecutive high-altitude protests in Naju, South Jeolla, and Wonju, Gangwon.
According to the ministry, Booyoung Housing did not pay A its subcontract fees, citing its own audit, causing A's finances to deteriorate and resulting in unpaid wages for the company's workers. The ministry first provided corrective guidance for Booyoung Housing, as the contractor with potential joint liability, to pay the subcontract fees.
Under Article 44 of the Labor Standards Act, in a contracted project, if a lower-tier subcontractor fails to pay wages to workers due to reasons attributable to the upper-tier contractor, the upper-tier contractor must bear joint responsibility with the lower-tier subcontractor.
Furthermore, the ministry determined there is a high likelihood that Booyoung Housing also failed to pay wages to other subcontractors and therefore launched a planned inspection of Booyoung Housing's headquarters. The ministry said it will focus on checking whether Booyoung Housing violated joint liability for unpaid wages to subcontractor workers, and added that it will comprehensively review whether the headquarters violated other labor-related laws and take stern action if violations are confirmed.