Hyundai Engineering will push for a one-month rotating paid leave program for about 1,000 headquarters employees in the plant division.
Hyundai Engineering said on the 17th that it plans to divide about 1,000 employees in the headquarters plant division into six groups and implement one-month paid rotating leave.
A Hyundai Engineering official said, "Because plant order schedules are being delayed, there is no workload, so we are pushing paid leave to boost operating rates."
The Hyundai Engineering chapter of the Korean Construction Companies Labor Union pushed back, saying the company, as its situation worsened, moved to what is "a de facto workforce restructuring" centered on plant personnel.
The Hyundai Engineering union said in an official statement sent to the company on the 16th that "on the afternoon of the 15th, the company notified that it would implement at-home standby for all employees in the plant division," adding, "This is a violation of the collective agreement and an attempt at artificial restructuring."
The union argued, "This at-home standby measure is effectively a preliminary step to workforce cuts," and "this is a clear act of restructuring."
The union demanded that management either resign en masse or present a reform plan; that executives return all salaries and bonuses; and that the company present measures to strengthen competitiveness in the plant sector and secure workloads.
In response, Hyundai Engineering explained that the measure is a temporary management response, not a workforce cut or restructuring. The company plans to prepare specific implementation plans after consultations with the union.