• After the Incheon Regional Labor Relations Commission ruled in Case No. Incheon 2025 Discrimination 10 that the exclusion of contract workers from holiday gift benefits constituted discriminatory treatment, the company sought review before the National Labor Relations Commission
• The dispute involved only about $10,000 in total, raising broader concerns over discrimination, human rights, and ESG credibility

The Samsung Biologics Labor Union criticized Samsung Biologics after the Incheon Regional Labor Relations Commission, in a discrimination remedy case (Case No. Incheon 2025 Discrimination 10), ruled that the company’s exclusion of contract workers from holiday gift benefits constituted discriminatory treatment, after which the company changed counsel from Bae, Kim & Lee LLC to Kim & Chang and filed for review before the National Labor Relations Commission.

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A written judgment from the Labor Relations Commission confirming that Samsung Biologics discriminated against a fixed-term employee regarding holiday benefits.

The union does not view this as a minor dispute over a welfare item. In its view, it is difficult to justify that a company generating around $1.3 billion in operating profit chose to contest, rather than accept the outcome, a matter involving only about $66 per worker for roughly 150 contract workers, or approximately $10,000 in total. The issue, the union said, is not the amount itself, but the decision to exclude contract workers from the benefit over such a small cost and then continue defending that decision rather than correct it.

The union said the core issue in this case is discrimination. Samsung Biologics has reportedly argued that the holiday gift was a discretionary CEO benefit. However, the union said that treating a holiday gift established through labor-management consultation as a matter of unilateral generosity, and then excluding contract workers from that benefit, reflects a broader tendency to view people not as members of the organization but as costs.

The union added that the case raises broader concerns about human rights and ESG credibility. Excluding workers from basic treatment because of employment status, and then seeking further review rather than accepting the labor ruling, is inconsistent with the ESG values the company publicly promotes. According to the union, ESG credibility should be reflected not only in external messaging but also in fairness, equal treatment, and respect for human dignity in the workplace.

Jaesung Park, President of the Samsung Biologics Labor Union, said, “The amount at issue may be small for a company of this size, but the discriminatory mindset and judgment revealed by this case are not small at all. What the company needs now is not a determination to fight a small cost to the end, but the common-sense decision to correct discrimination and treat people as members of the organization, not as expendable costs.”

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"A company with $1.5 Billion in profit is fighting a $10,000 labor ruling over contract worker holiday gifts. Samsung Biologics under CEO John Rim faces serious ESG credibility questions."