[비즈한국] Recently, noise surrounding personnel management has continued, centering on E-Land Retail's regional stores. Since entering an emergency management system last year, E-Land Retail has previously faced controversy during the process of relocating personnel at its metropolitan stores. There are concerns that a similar pattern may be repeating itself this year, centered on regional branches.
Allegations of pressuring staff on shortened working hours, concerns over audit responses
On March 17, the E-Land union filed a complaint with the Ministry of Employment and Labor against the manager of Department Store Branch A, affiliated with E-Land Retail in Daegu. The claim is that the branch manager committed workplace harassment by verbally abusing, publicly reprimanding, and unfairly transferring employees who were using the child-care working hour reduction system. The union stated that the branch manager continued to pressure employees under the guise of "work guidance." They explained that there was excessive management, such as demanding work reports right before leaving for the day or ordering employees to report their working hours in minute-by-minute detail in front of other staff.
A union official claimed, "An employee who was using the child-care working hour reduction system was transferred from the existing sales team to the customer service office. It was a move to a role with a completely different nature from their previous work," adding, "The branch manager had publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the use of this system."
In particular, the union pointed out that E-Land Retail did not respond appropriately to the reports of workplace harassment. They take issue with the fact that even though similar reports regarding Branch Manager A had been filed multiple times, the company's management and supervision were insufficient.
According to transcripts obtained by Bizhankook, the victim specifically detailed the inappropriate remarks and actions of Branch Manager A during an interview with the audit team. At the time, an audit team member stated, "We conducted a survey because there were reports that employees at the OO branch were having difficulties with their work, and we are conducting interviews to verify them further." Even though the interview was conducted with prior knowledge of the situation, the audit team reportedly did not recognize it as workplace harassment and limited its response to a warning.
The union is currently collecting signatures urging for disciplinary action against Branch Manager A. The union stated, "The victimized employees are currently receiving psychiatric treatment, yet the branch manager in question was promoted to headquarters manager this past January. We suspect that the company is protecting the perpetrator," adding, "We began the petition on March 27, and over 1,000 people have participated so far."
E-Land Retail explained, "We are conducting a survey of all employees to check for unfair treatment, including workplace harassment. We are particularly listening actively to the opinions of employees using the shortened working hours for child-care," and added, "Regarding the complaint filed with the Ministry of Labor, we are currently waiting to hear from the Ministry and plan to cooperate sincerely with future investigations."
Restructuring of regional stores begins in earnest… Are labor-management conflicts repeating?
Some view this workplace harassment controversy in connection with personnel restructuring. As pressure exerted on employees using shortened child-care hours often leads to resignations, there is an interpretation that this controversy is not unrelated to the process of personnel relocation.
In fact, E-Land Retail seems to have set out to adjust its workforce, focusing on regional stores this year. According to the industry, E-Land Retail is pursuing reorganization efforts for five stores nationwide, including Suncheon, Gwangju, Jeonju, Gyeongsan, and Chilgok Gangbuk (Daegu), as part of an asset redesign strategy. Along with the move to downsize stores, the reassignment of employees to other branches has begun in earnest, and it is causing controversy as the company suggests assignments to distant locations.
Recently, it was reported that E-Land Retail suggested that workers in the Daegu area move to the Cheonho branch in Seoul or the Yatap branch in Bundang. It is also known that they mentioned a move to Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi-do, to workers in the Suncheon area. The union argued, "It is questionable whether it is realistic to suggest a metropolitan work location to an employee who has worked in Daegu for 20 years," and added, "They made this suggestion to an employee who is continuing shortened work hours due to health issues. While the company claims these are only suggestions, the parties involved may perceive them as measures effectively pressuring them to resign."
An E-Land Retail official explained, "We are considering various operating methods, including closures, to improve profitability in line with the difficult changes in the offline retail environment," adding, "While these stores have been experiencing deficits for several years, we are prioritizing job retention. We are conducting consultation procedures that reflect individual wishes and living conditions through individual interviews with employees. These are not measures intended to force resignations."
Labor-management conflicts deepened after E-Land Retail declared emergency management in April last year. As they terminated contracts with subcontractors to cut costs, the company assigned full-time in-store employees to tasks such as cart management, parking, and security, which sparked backlash from the staff.
The union argued that assigning tasks not included in the employment contract constituted workplace harassment and began a tent protest in front of the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office in July last year. Five months later, at the end of November last year, E-Land Retail promised to withdraw the personnel measures, and from January this year, full-time employees were removed from those duties.
During the personnel relocation process, there were also cases where management and office staff were assigned to logistics centers. In response, the employees argued that the transfers were unfair and filed for an injunction with the court to suspend their validity, as well as filing for relief with the local labor offices overseeing each work location.
Although the Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Busan Regional Labor Relations Commissions later issued rulings recognizing the transfers as unfair, E-Land Retail appealed these decisions to the National Labor Relations Commission. However, it was reported that the headquarters withdrew the appeals in January this year and returned the employees assigned to the logistics centers to their original positions. When asked for the reason for withdrawing the appeals, E-Land Retail explained that it was a "decision based on management judgment."