Seoul: A minority shareholder rights group has filed complaints against Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon and the chief executive officers of Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. The complaints pertain to the companies' recently signed wage deals, which involve using part of their operating profits to pay performance bonuses to employees.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the group, known as the Korea Shareholders Movement Headquarters, contends that performance bonuses should not have been included in collective bargaining agreements. The group lodged a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials against Labor Minister Kim on charges including abuse of power, obstruction of rights, and coercion. This comes after Kim played a role in resolving Samsung's long-standing wage dispute through government mediation on May 20.
The shareholder group claims that Minister Kim influenced the conclusion of Samsung's tentative wage agreement, despite performance bonuses not being a matter for collective bargaining or labor disputes. In addition, the group has filed a separate complaint with the National Office of Investigation against Samsung Electronics CEOs Jeon Young-hyun and Roh Tae-moon, as well as SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung, accusing them of breach of trust.
The group alleges that the CEOs established a mechanism to divert corporate assets by agreeing to performance bonus demands without a comprehensive review of the labor-management agreement. They argue that it is unlawful to predetermine a portion of pre-tax operating profit for performance bonuses and assert that the allocation of corporate funds, including such bonuses, should be approved at a general shareholders' meeting.
The wage agreement, finalized in May, stipulates that Samsung will offer a special semiconductor performance bonus equivalent to 10.5 percent of business performance earnings, while SK hynix has implemented a profit-sharing system that distributes 10 percent of the semiconductor division's operating profit to employee bonuses.