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Coupang ordered to cut night shifts after employee dies of overwork

Published: 14 Jan. 2025, 19:00 Updated: 14 Jan. 2025, 19:09

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

Coupang delivery trucks are parked at a parking lot in Seoul [NEWS1]

The Korean government ordered Coupang Logistics Services (CLS) to reduce its drivers' nighttime working hours following the death of a delivery worker last May.

An occupational safety probe by the Ministry of Employment and Labor found that Coupang's logistics subsidiary responsible for 136 Labor Standards Act violations, including delayed wage payments worth 150 million won ($102,576), the ministry said in a report released Tuesday. The inspection took place across October and November and spanned the CLS headquarters as well as all 34 CLS distribution centers and 47 delivery camps.

The probe was prompted by the death of a CLS delivery worker, who suffered a heart attack last May after working six night shifts in one week. The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service agreed in October that the worker's death was an industrial accident and compensated his family.

The ministry ordered Coupang to reduce the length and intensity of night shifts in its report, suggesting five-day work weeks and the addition of delivery centers.

"Intensive nighttime labor can result in a variety of diseases, including those related to the brain," the report said.

It also concluded, however, that Coupang could not be held legally responsible for last May's tragedy, as the late worker — a part-timer hired under the company's "Quickflex" system, by which it pays per delivery in lieu of a salary and does not provide a vehicle or specific routes — qualified as an independent contractor, rather than an employee, under the Labor Standards Act.

Three subcontracted branches of CLS were found to be employing workers who had not signed labor contracts, which is illegal in Korea. Four subcontracted branches and two distribution centers had inaccurately registered a total of 360 workers as sole proprietors in order to evade the requirements of the Labor Standards Act.

The ministry said it would additionally take legal action on four cases, impose fines totaling around 92 million won regarding 53 cases and order corrective action on 34 cases. The investigation uncovered, among other minor infractions, cases of keys left in the ignitions of forklifts that were not in use, on-site lifts without safety certifications and other missing safety measures.

“The corrective actions from the Ministry of Employment and Labor have been rectified during the probing process,” Coupang said Tuesday. “We will also be coming up with improvement measures, including strengthening health checkups and expanding the support on health management programs, after listening to the voices from the field."

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]