Idol member’s younger sibling under fire for alleged unpaid wages to entertainment bar employees

According to reports on May 27, ‘A’ has not paid wages to some employees working at an entertainment bar in the provinces since July of 2022. During recruitment, ‘A’ allegedly claimed, “If you come down to the provinces from Seoul to work, I’ll pay an additional 10 million won ($7556.12 USD) in transportation expenses as well as a full month allowance.”

Employees who came down to the provinces after seeing the notice worked without absence for a month, but were not paid the promised additional allowance. ‘A’ is said to have delayed the payment of allowances, citing the contents of the contract. The contract allegedly had exceptions for the allowance, including “a person who engages in personal activities without any special reason,” “a person who curses,” and “a person who argues with employees cannot receive an allowance.”

Employee B said, “I signed a contract and worked for a month, but I didn’t receive the promised full-time allowance of 10 million won. When the promised date came, he made various excuses and didn’t give me the allowance.” Another employee C said, “I came down from Seoul to the provinces because of the high allowance, but I feel cheated. Not only myself, but others have not been paid their allowances.” Employee D also stated, “I was going to work 6 days a week per the contract, but I was told the contract was invalid and told that those who want to quit should quit.”

Since the entertainment bar is currently closed, it’s expected more employees will suffer damages. The employees may move forward with a civil lawsuit against the employer as an employer can be punished by imprisonment or a fine of up to 30 million won ($22,668.37 USD) if they fail to pay wages to workers or fails to pay them on a fixed date at least once a month.

Stay tuned for updates.