Have you heard? There was a HYBE employee who died all of a sudden inside the company’s building. Various rumors began spreading regarding the death of this HYBE employee, with a suspected overworking scandal that caused a massive controversy among Kpop fans. Today, more details of this death scandal controversy revealed, describing what happened to this HYBE employee. Join us in the complete story below.
HYBE Being Accused of Overworking Its Employee – More Details Uncovered
Kpop’s giant corporation HYBE is currently facing a wide range of massive scandals. Aside from the ongoing dispute with NewJeans members and producer Min Heejin, accusations of office bullying revealed by NewJeans Hanni, and internal documents leak, HYBE has been suspected of covering the death of its employee in the most shocking scandal controversy.
Previously, at the National Assembly audit, HYBE-appointed ADOR CEO Kim Ju Young took a stand to testify against Hanni’s office bullying testimonies. Then, the National Assembly started questioning Kim Ju Young about the shocking death of a HYBE employee in June 2022.
During the meeting, Kim Ju Young (who was previously the Chief HR Officer of HYBE) explained that the HYBE employee died due to a personal illness. The company had transported the employee to the hospital, but it was too late.
According to Kim Ju Young, it was a tragic accident.
Today, however, more revelations have surfaced detailing all the circumstances surrounding HYBE when the employee died.
A Korean media outlet, BizHankook, released a report detailing an interview with a senior employee at HYBE, who has experienced what kind of working culture the company demands from its workers. This senior employee decided to speak up about the death scandal and the controversy happening within HYBE.
“Quiet rumors were going around in the company, though I didn’t actually know the employee who passed. I only found out when I saw an internal notice about their death.
Then, people were saying it might’ve happened due to overwork, that it took place in the nap room.
I remember there was even a news article about it that disappeared shortly after.
Hearing all of this, I thought, ‘Honestly, that sounds possible.’”
HYBE’s Senior Employee.
HYBE Employee Death Scandal Controversy Explained
Furthermore, the HYBE senior employee eventually described what it was like to be working at the company when the death occurred, igniting more scandal controversy surrounding the incident.
“When I was at BigHit, things were so exhausting that my team and I would joke about wishing we’d catch COVID-19 just to get a break.
The system just didn’t make sense. Even before that incident, everyone had already been feeling burnt out.
Whenever we got a new concept, we’d jump straight into production that night, often working until 5 or 6 AM.
Ideally, we should go home to rest after that, but if any revision requests came in, we had no choice but to stay in the office.”
HYBE’s Senior Employee.
“We Couldn’t Take It Anymore”
The HYBE senior employee then admitted that working at the company was too overbearing at the time. Even when the company provided facilities like nap rooms and massage chairs, they were basically meaningless. Using them would only make the employees feel guilty and restless.
After all, work and duties kept on coming so endlessly that 3 to 4 days would pass without them going home. Approvals would take so long without clear reasons. Even after that, they would end up with the initial result.
Moreover, with the 52-hour workweek law hadn’t yet been implemented, different labels applied different rules within HYBE. Some labels would compensate for the extra hours, but others wouldn’t.
“One day, we ended up working until 9 AM, and we just couldn’t take it. The company had nap rooms and massage chairs, but using them felt frowned upon. Hence, some coworkers were visibly anxious about it.
Once we came to work, going 3-4 days without going home was common. The 52-hour workweek rule wasn’t in place then, and each label had different guidelines back then. Some people got extra pay for late-night work, while others didn’t.
The schedule itself wasn’t the problem—the issue was in approval delays. We’d wait without any clear reason, and sometimes, they’d end up choosing the first draft anyway. It just felt inefficient.”
HYBE’s Senior Employee.
What About HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk?
While the involvement of HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk is still unclear, details revealed a clear difference between his label and others.
“The system is somewhat different. I’m not sure if Chairman Bang Si Hyuk was aware of the situation back then, but it’s clear there’s a difference between labels he’s directly involved in and those he isn’t.”
HYBE’s Senior Employee.
HYBE’s Clarification on the Interview and Controversy
Eventually, HYBE gave their official response to all the details revealed in the interview. According to BizHankook, HYBE claimed to have been using all available measures to ensure compliance with working-hour rules.
“Since January 1, 2021, we’ve put in place company-wide policies to adhere to the 52-hour workweek rule. We offer flexible working options, like setting your own work hours, remote work, and a system for managing work hours.
To support this, we have an attendance system where employees record their start and end times. This information is shared with managers to help keep track of team working hours efficiently.
We also offer unlimited paid leave, and if employees use up their required annual leave, they receive a 500,000 KRW bonus for taking additional days off.
You could even take time off from today until the end of the year if you wish.”
HYBE.
Still, since HYBE is a private company, they are not obliged to report these details to the government. Therefore, everything seems to be in a gray area when discussing the death scandal and controversy of the HYBE employee.
While waiting for more details to uncover, what are your thoughts on this issue now? Do you believe it’s possible for HYBE to cover up the incident? Or was the case purely an accident? Please share your thoughts with us.
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Source: BizHankook, TopStarNews.
