A special counsel team has interrogated the top executive of a Coupang Corp. affiliate regarding allegations of unpaid severance pay for company employees. Chung Jong-chul, CEO of Coupang Fulfillment Services (CFS), a logistics subsidiary of Coupang, faced questioning as a suspect about the company’s severance pay issue. Chung and his predecessor, Eom Seong-hwan, are under suspicion for altering the company’s employment regulations in May 2023 to the detriment of employees who have worked for more than a year and failing to provide their severance pay.
Under the revised rules, daily workers employed for over a year are entitled to severance pay only if they have worked for more than 15 hours per week consistently. Previously, they received severance pay, with weeks where they worked less than 15 hours excluded from the total. In essence, if at any point during their employment their weekly working hours fall below 15 hours, the calculation period for retirement benefits restarts. The current retirement benefits law states that an employee qualifies for severance pay if the continuous employment period is one year or more and the average weekly working hours over four weeks are 15 hours or more.
The special counsel team has already interviewed Eom as a suspect and conducted searches at Coupang Corp. and CFS headquarters. They reportedly confiscated an internal CFS document estimating significant cost savings for the company by amending its employment regulations. Previously, the acting CEO of Coupang underwent 12 hours of intense police interrogation over allegations of evidence destruction related to a major data breach at the e-commerce firm.
