SK Innovation Raises 16.3 Billion KRW for 1% Happiness Sharing Fund by This Year

97 Billion KRW Spent on Partner Collaboration and Social Contribution

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK Innovation announced that it has spent 9.7 billion KRW, more than half of the '1% Happiness Sharing Fund' established through labor-management agreement since 2017, on partner company coexistence and social contribution programs. The 1% Happiness Sharing Fund is expected to accumulate a total of 16.36 billion KRW by this year.

The 1% Happiness Sharing Fund is raised by employees voluntarily donating 1% of their basic monthly salary, with the company matching the same amount.

SK Innovation's labor and management agreed on this through collective bargaining in September 2017, and it has been implemented since October of that year. Approximately 5.38 billion KRW was raised last year alone. Of the approximately 10.72 billion KRW raised until last year, about 1 billion KRW was carried over for use in the first quarter of this year.

Additionally, SK Innovation stated that about 5.64 billion KRW, including the company’s matching grant, is expected to be raised for the 1% Happiness Sharing Fund this year.

This increase is due not only to more participation from existing members but also because most new employees empathize with the purpose of the 1% Happiness Sharing Fund, significantly increasing the number of participants.

Lee Sung-hoon, Chairman of the SK Innovation Labor Union, said, "The social value created by SK Innovation members participating in the '1% Happiness Sharing' will circulate back and become a driving force for the company's growth," adding, "SK Innovation will continue to return greater value to society through labor-management cooperation."

Of the approximately 5.38 billion KRW raised last year through the ‘1% Happiness Sharing Fund,’ 2.62 billion KRW donated by the company was delivered as a coexistence fund for partner company employees in Ulsan and Incheon in January and August 2019, respectively.

Part of the fund was used for a mangrove forest restoration project to create social value in the environmental sector. Last year, SK Innovation planted about 125,000 mangrove seedlings on approximately 29 hectares near Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam. The mangrove restoration project is planned to expand to Myanmar this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.