Paris Baguette likely to be fined tens of billions of won

Paris Baguette, a leading bakery franchise of Korean food and beverage giant SPC Group, is expected to face up to tens of billions of won in fines for failing to follow the government’s order to directly hire bakers at its stores, authorities said Tuesday.

In late September, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said the company violated the country’s labor law in connection with the hiring conditions of more than 5,300 of bakers and cafe workers at its franchise stores, ordering it to address the problem in two months.

The bakery chain has been accused of giving direct work orders, including recipe training, to outsourced workers with job contracts with its hiring-related subcontractors, a practice the ministry says is illegal.

As the deadline to resolve the issue was set to expire as of Tuesday, the government said it will officially launch procedures to levy a fine on the company on Wednesday.

YONHAP