A staff member in his 20s at the London Bagel Museum (Runbemu) in South Korea died allegedly due to working up to 80 hours a week.
The incident was revealed in a statement by the Justice Party on Monday (27 Oct), SBS reported.
According to Korea JoongAng Daily, the 26-year-old employee was found in cardiac arrest at a dormitory on 16 July.
He had been working in preparation for the opening of the Incheon branch.
Source: Google Maps
Runbemu, which opened its first store in Seoul in September 2021, is known for its long lines which form even before opening.
It is said to have started the “bagel craze” in South Korea, and now has seven stores in the country.
According to the Justice Party, the staff went to work at 9am and left just before midnight on the day before he died.
Five days prior, he had also worked a 21-hour shift.
Based on the young man’s schedules and KakaoTalk message history, he worked an average of 58 hours per week — more than the 52-hour workweek limit.
Since joining the company in May 2024, he has allegedly worked at four branches, even being assigned to another city nearby.
Lee Mi-seon, spokesperson for the Progressive Party, also wrote in a statement that day that the deceased skipped his meals on the day before he died.
The bereaved family has since filed for industrial accident compensation.
On 28 Oct, Runbemu released a statement refuting the allegations that the staff member had died due to overwork.
It further stated that its employees worked an average of 43.5 hours per week, calling the 80-hour workweek claim “utterly incomprehensible”.
It explained that the deceased worked overtime for a total of seven times in approximately 13 months.
According to the company, he worked nine hours of overtime in total.
Records also show that he worked an average of 44.1 hours per week.
However, the company acknowledged that it cannot completely rule out the possibility of unrecorded overtime.
Source: Google Maps
Runbemu further addressed accusations that they refused to provide labour records to the deceased’s family.
It said it had provided “all available documents, including the deceased’s labor contract, work schedule, and pay statements”.
However, it revealed that a system error caused a delay in confirming the deceased’s records on the fingerprint scanner.
The issue was only resolved in early August.
Runbemu also claimed that the deceased said he did not have any appetite and would eat after working “as much as [he] can”.
The company said it will cooperate in the investigations by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and will “strengthen internal management systems, such as mandatory attendance records for all employees, and conduct company-wide training” to prevent similar incidents.
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Featured image adapted from Trip.com, Google Maps.