Justice Party slams labor ministry's Gentle Monster probe as 'corporate absolution'

The Justice Party has sharply criticized the Ministry of Employment and Labor's planned inspection findings on II Combined, the operator of eyewear brand Gentle Monster, calling the results "a disappointing outcome that ignores the structural causes of overwork and unpaid labor."

In a statement issued Wednesday under the name of its labor rights center Bisanggu, the Justice Party said the ministry's determination that the company's discretionary work system was lawful "is the result of passive oversight that sidesteps the core of the problem."

The ministry had earlier concluded that II Combined's adoption of the discretionary work system was itself legal, while finding violations of labor law — including unpaid night and holiday work allowances and breaches of overtime limits — for which it issued corrective orders and fines.

The Justice Party said the crux of any discretionary work arrangement is whether workers genuinely have the autonomy to determine their own working hours.

"Junior and entry-level designers were required to follow instructions from a vice president and meet product launch schedules and deadlines, which made any meaningful exercise of discretion impossible," the party said. "The long hours and unpaid labor stemmed directly from that structure."

The party said it was "a formalistic and superficial inspection" to recognize the discretionary work system simply because a written agreement with a worker representative existed, even though the company had in effect imposed unlimited working hours with no attendance tracking. "Because the discretionary work system was upheld, overtime violations could not be properly challenged either — and the outcome was limited to ordering payment of night and holiday allowances," it said.

The manner in which unpaid wages were settled also drew criticism.

"After the corrective order, the company simply collected employees' bank account numbers and deposited amounts with no breakdown or calculation basis," the party said. "The sums paid were small and varied widely between individuals, meaning the remedial effect of the labor inspection has all but disappeared."

The party also said the ministry relied too heavily on materials and statements submitted by the employer.

"There was insufficient proactive investigation — such as reviewing workers' transit card records or internal messaging logs — to verify actual working hours and whether work instructions had been given," the party said, adding that it plans to file a freedom-of-information request for the full inspection findings before issuing a further statement.

"In the separate complaint case currently under way, the legality of the discretionary work system must be judged on substance, not form," the party said. "The ministry must not hand companies a free pass to disguise long hours and unpaid labor through the discretionary work system."