The Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) conducted a total of 1,350 compulsory investigations last year in connection with wage arrears cases. The number of search, seizure and verification warrants issued to prove the charges of employers who denied wage arrears or gave false statements increased by about 30% from the previous year.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) on the 27th, there were 1,350 compulsory investigations last year. Arrest warrants were the most at 644, followed by 548 communication warrants, 144 search, seizure and verification warrants, and 14 detention warrants. Arrest and detention warrants decreased, but search, seizure and verification warrants increased by nearly 30%.
Under the regulations for labor inspectors' duties, if there is substantial suspicion of wage arrears and the subject refuses to appear or does not cooperate with the investigation, a labor inspector may immediately apply for an arrest warrant.
In fact, an employer who habitually failed to pay 910 million won in wages to 110 workers with disabilities was detained. The employer was found to have also fraudulently received about 60 million won by paying some workers their wages and then inducing them to apply for substitute payment and return it. The Busan Northern District Office confirmed through a search and seizure of financial accounts that the employer had the financial capacity but deliberately withheld wages.
In addition, a restaurant owner who, when a worker quit, hired other workers and failed to pay wages in the same way was detained for withholding 34 million won in wages from 14 workers. An arrest warrant was executed for a manufacturing employer who had evaded investigation after failing to pay a 50,000 won daily wage, and the wages were paid on the spot.
Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said, "Workers facing a livelihood crisis due to arrears will be swiftly protected through the substitute payment system, and we will hold employers criminally accountable to the end," adding, "We will continue to compile and disclose detention cases so that the perception spreads that wage arrears are never tolerated."