Orion "Iksan Factory Employee Death, Workplace Bullying Notification... Will Improve Organizational Culture"

Statement on the Ministry of Employment and Labor's Investigation Results of the 'Iksan Factory Employee Death Incident'
Expressing Condolences and Regret... Humbly Accepting Employment Ministry's Recommendations and Committed to Diligent Implementation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Orion and all former employees expressed deep condolences and regret on the 30th regarding the death of an employee who worked at the Iksan factory on March 17.

Orion received notification from the Ministry of Employment and Labor's investigation into this incident that the deceased's superior's demand for a written explanation (simalseo) from the deceased constitutes workplace harassment. Along with this, Orion was given guidance and recommendations to improve the rigid organizational culture at the Iksan factory. Orion stated that it will humbly accept the Ministry of Employment and Labor's recommendations and carry them out sincerely.

As a food company manufacturing consumables, Orion strictly manages production processes for food hygiene and consumer safety due to the nature of its business. The Ministry of Employment and Labor's investigation confirmed that there were cases where written explanations or reports (gyeongwiseo or simalseo) were requested for quality control at the production site. However, according to company regulations, disciplinary actions involving simalseo are personnel sanctions decided at the headquarters level and cannot be arbitrarily determined on-site. The team leader who violated this and exceeded their authority will be disciplined according to company rules. Orion emphasized, "We understand that whether receiving a written explanation or simalseo constitutes 'workplace harassment' is not established in precedent or case law, but we will humbly accept the Ministry of Employment and Labor's judgment and implement the improvement guidance and recommendations."

Regarding the colleague pointed out by the deceased, the Ministry of Employment and Labor's investigation found it difficult to establish a specific causal relationship with the deceased's mental distress, and workplace harassment was not recognized. However, following the Ministry's recommendation for a reinvestigation, the company plans to conduct a strict reinvestigation. After the ongoing special labor inspection by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Orion intends to engage in sincere dialogue with the bereaved family based on the investigation results.

Orion stated that through this incident, it realized that the deceased had no appropriate person to easily share difficulties with and that a rigid organizational culture existed within the factory. Currently, at the headquarters level, they are listening to voices from the field in various ways to improve the factory's work culture and working environment. Orion explained, "We will reform the rigid organizational culture existing in the factory," and added, "We will work closely with the labor union to jointly develop measures to improve the workplace culture."

To allow employees to share personal difficulties or concerns beyond company life and to maintain a more stable work life, Orion plans to introduce a 'worker psychological counseling system' through external organizations. In addition, they are reviewing various in-house policies that can improve the working environment for factory employees, such as mentoring systems to support younger new employees, and plan to actively introduce necessary systems and continuously implement them.

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