President Lee Jae Myung said Friday the government will take "strict action in line with international standards" if allegations that IKEA Korea demoted and pressured an employee to resign after she returned from parental leave are proven true. The Ministry of Employment and Labor has already launched a probe into whether the company violated the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, and the outcome is drawing wide attention.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Lee said some global companies that operate as model employers in other countries have drawn criticism for anti-labor and opaque management practices specifically in South Korea. "South Korea is now reinventing itself as a model society and model government that leads the world," he wrote. "Such outdated management behavior cannot be tolerated."
Lee added that just as Korean companies must not engage in anti-labor or unreasonable conduct abroad, foreign companies operating in South Korea must be held to the same standard. "We will conduct a thorough investigation, and if the allegations are proven true, we will take strict action in line with international standards," he said.
The remarks came as Lee shared a Kyunghyang Shinmun report on the personnel controversy surrounding IKEA Korea's treatment of employees returning from parental leave.
According to the report, the Anyang branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor has been investigating IKEA Korea CEO Isabel Puig on suspicion of violating the Equal Employment Opportunity Act since April. The probe was triggered by a complaint filed by a senior-level employee, identified only as A, who said she was demoted to a non-managerial position upon returning from parental leave — contrary to a prior promise of reinstatement to her original role — and was also pressured to resign voluntarily.
A said she was told her position had been eliminated due to a reorganization that merged her department while she was on leave. When she objected, she said a company official suggested she could not be expected to return to work immediately after "resting comfortably at home" and encouraged her to leave. She further claimed that after refusing to accept the demotion, she was excluded from work duties and warned she could be reassigned to a frontline position.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Act prohibits employers from dismissing or otherwise disadvantaging employees on the grounds of parental leave, and violations are subject to criminal penalties.
IKEA Korea denied the allegations in full. The company said "many parts of the overall account, including statements attributed to the CEO, do not reflect the facts," adding that the reorganization was carried out based on organizational and functional considerations rather than targeting any individual, and that all relevant laws and internal policies were followed. The company also said employees affected by the restructuring were given priority access to internal job openings and support to explore a range of positions.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor said it is currently investigating the facts based on the complaint and will determine whether the Equal Employment Opportunity Act was violated once the probe is complete.
fact0514@heraldcorp.com
