Paris Baguette (PB), a leading bakery franchise in Korea, is facing pressure to directly hire its dispatched workers. After an investigation of Paris Croissant, the parent company of Paris Baguette, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) concluded that Paris Baguette was using illegally-dispatched bakers. The Ministry also announced that it will issue a corrective order to Paris Baguette.
According to the MOEL and the industry, the franchise store owners of PB hired bakers through subcontracts with partner firms of Paris Croissant. The PB headquarters transfers recipes and technologies to the partner firms. After they hire and educate bakers, the partner firms dispatch the bakers to the franchises.
The store owners or headquarters cannot make direct work orders to the dispatched bakers. Work orders can only be made through the partner firms. If the owners or headquarters make direct work orders, then the bakers are considered to be illegally dispatched.
The MOEL found out that the managers of headquarters made direct work orders to the bakers, and concluded that the bakers were illegally dispatched. The Ministry mentioned that it would “order the head office to directly hire the bakers, with noncompliance to lead to a legal punishment or fine.”
However, the bakery business cannot help expressing disappointment with the Ministry’s order. The business finds that dispatch is inevitable considering the characteristics of the bakery franchise industry. The MOEL is planning to carry out an inspection of other bakery franchises. The Ministry stated, “the employment structure of other franchises has not been identified yet. Inspections will be carried out if necessary, after figuring out the structure. However, nothing is specified yet.”