The Ministry of Employment and Labor's conclusion on the ”workplace bullying” case brought by HANNI (NewJeans)

The Ministry of Employment and Labour (the equivalent of Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) concluded that HYBE's internal bullying of Korean girl group ‘NewJeans’ member HANNI did not fall under ‘workplace bullying’.

On the 20th, the Seoul Regional Employment and Labour Agency's Seoul Seobu Branch Office stated that ‘it was difficult to consider HANNI as a worker under the Labour Standards Act and the case was closed administratively’ in response to a complaint of workplace bullying by a ‘NewJeans’ fan.

The Western Branch Office decided that it was difficult to regard HANNI as a worker under the Workplace Standards Act. The Seoul Branch Office cited the following reasons for its decision "It is difficult to regard HANNI as a worker under the Labour Standards Law because of the content and nature of the management contract it concluded, in which HANNI provided work for wages in an employer-subordinate relationship; it is also difficult to regard HANNI as a worker under the direction and supervision of the company because the relationship was one of mutual equal contracting parties who performed their own contractual obligations." The company also cited the difficulty of considering the relationship as one of direction and supervision on the part of the company.

They added that the company's internal regulations, systems and systems such as the company's work rules applicable to ordinary employees were not applied, that there were no fixed working hours or working places and that it was not possible to decide the time of arrival and departure, and that the office and HANNI jointly bore the expenses necessary for entertainment activities.

The following points were also cited as reasons: the amount paid is difficult to consider as compensation for the work itself due to the nature of the distribution of earnings; the fact that each party bears its own taxes and pays business income tax instead of labour income tax; and the fact that they are seen as taking risks themselves, such as generating profits and causing losses through entertainment activities.

In September, HANNI claimed that the managers of other artists belonging to HYBE had told him to ‘ignore’ them during the ‘NewJeans’ emergency livestream. In response, fans of ‘NewJeans’ complained to the Ministry of Labour through the National Petition Board (a petition board run by the Korean Government), and HANNI attended a national audit by the National Assembly Committee on Environment and Labour as a witness last month, testifying about bullying in the workplace.

However, the ‘workplace bullying’ case was closed as the Ministry of Employment and Labour found it difficult to consider HANNI as a worker. The Western Branch Office referred to a ruling by the Supreme Court in September 2019, which ruled that the nature of an exclusive contract with an entertainer falls under a mandate contract or an anonymous contract similar to a mandate under the Civil Code, and stressed that it is difficult to consider HANNI as a worker under the Labour Standards Act.