Hanni, member of a girl group NewJeans, speaks at a parliamentary labor committee meeting, Seoul, Oct. 15. Yonhap
The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Wednesday dismissed claims of workplace harassment against a member of K-pop girl group NewJeans, saying she cannot be regarded as a worker under the labor law.
NewJeans fans filed a petition with the labor ministry in mid-September, alleging that Hanni Pham, a Vietnamese Australian member of the group, has suffered workplace bullying within Hybe, the parent company of ADOR, NewJeans’ label.
In one incident, the petitioners said that when Hanni greeted the members of the girl group ILLIT from Hybe’s sub-label Belift Lab, their manager told them to “ignore her.” Hanni also expressed confusion and frustration over the incident in a National Assembly meeting on Oct. 15, saying, “I was certain that the company hated us.”
But the labor ministry said the Seoul western labor office decided to reject the petition regarding NewJeans member Hanni because she cannot be viewed as a worker under the Labor Standards Act.
The labor office said that given the content and nature of the management contract signed by Hanni, it is difficult to view her as a worker under the Labor Standards Act who provides labor for wages in an employer-employee relationship.
Article 76, Paragraph 2 of the law stipulates that no employer or employee shall cause physical or mental suffering to other employees or deteriorate the work environment beyond the appropriate scope of work by taking advantage of superiority in rank, relationship, etc. in the workplace, referring to such an act as workplace harassment.
The Korean government and courts have long classified entertainers not as workers but as “exceptional entities” who operate under exclusive contracts with their management agencies. (Yonhap)