Harold Rogers, Coupang's acting CEO, said on the 30th that "Coupang's performance evaluation system strictly follows Korean laws and regulations."

Rogers, the acting CEO, responded at a joint hearing on Coupang held at the National Assembly to a question from Rep. Ahn Ho-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, who said Coupang's performance evaluation system is effectively being misused to push out low performers.

Harold Rogers, Coupang interim CEO, answers questions from lawmakers at a joint hearing on the Coupang breach held by the National Assembly's Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 30th. /Courtesy of News1

Ahn said, "Coupang classifies 10% of its employees each year as low performers and requires them to participate in a performance improvement program (PIP). In this process, employees are given goals that are difficult to achieve, and pressure premised on failure is repeated, leading most of those targeted to report severe stress and, in reality, to resign."

In response, Rogers, the acting CEO, said, "The PIP program is a program that helps employees improve their performance."

Ahn then said, "There are cases where Coupang's PIP program acted as a cause of adjustment disorder and was approved as an industrial accident. Do you have statistics on workers who participated in the PIP program and actually improved their performance and returned?"

In response, Rogers, the acting CEO, said, "I do not know how many completed it."

Kwon Chang-jun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), said, "Under the Labor Standards Act, personnel disadvantages may not be imposed without a justifiable reason, and fair opportunities for job transfers must also be guaranteed. In that respect, (Coupang's performance evaluation system) is in violation in some aspects."

※ This article has been translated by AI. Share your feedback here.