September 3 was the day that about 1,800 workers who were previously hired by the LG Uplus partner firms with tasks of maintaining and managing the online and offline network facilities began to work as the full-time employees of LG Plus, since their employment status had been converted from the employees of the LG Uplus entrusted firms. Workers wearing new LG Uplus ID cards expressed their expectations that they will be "free from the worries about the employment stability" and "the old management practices without any clear plan by the entrusted firms in the past may disappear after all."
However, about 2,300 call center workers working for LG Uplus Home Service Center were excluded from the company's move to change the employment status from the outsourced firms to the direct employment by LG Uplus. LG Uplus outsourced the operation of 72 home service centers across the country to the partner firms.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor had implemented a fact-finding of illegal worker dispatches by LG Uplus on 6 out of 29 outsourced facility maintenance and management firms and 12 out of 72 call centers for the period of two weeks from April 9 this year. Based upon the report of the fact-finding that there exist elements of illegal worker dispatches at the outsourced maintenance and management firms, the Ministry of Employment and Labor began to conduct a labor inspection into those firms from June 7. Around the time when the labor inspection came to a conclusion, LG Uplus abruptly decided to employ the workers directly.
reported by Choi Na-young
translated by Kim Sung-jin