Unpaid Employees, Rent Overdue— Multi-Label K-Pop Company Reportedly Crumbling Over Finances
Employees of all music labels under One Hundred Label are reportedly facing threats to their livelihoods after the company failed to pay them their fair compensation for months.
On February 12, KST, The Fact published a report revealing that Cha Ga Won, who serves as the CEO of One Hundred (home to THE BOYZ), Big Planet Made (home to Taemin, VIVIZ, Bad Villain, etc.), and INB100 (home to Baekhyun, Chen, and Xiumin), has failed to pay the four major social insurance premiums of employees, as well as retirement pension contributions. These three companies employee around 100 staff members in total.
The four major social insurances (national pension, health insurance, employment insurance, and industrial accident insurance) serve as a “social safety net for workers. Employers in Korea are legally obligated to report and enroll employees upon hiring, and to fully pay industrial accident insurance, while covering half of each of the remaining three. The other halves are automatically deducted from the workers’ monthly wages.
Cha has reportedly not paid the employer’s share for several months, while the employees’ portion continues to be deducted from workers’ salaries each month. Due to prolonged nonpayment, the insurance authority recently notified individual employees of the delinquency. Though the time periods differ slightly across the labels, payments are confirmed to be overdue by 1 to 4 months.
Consequently, nearly 100 employees working under Cha are forced to work without receiving basic benefits.
All three of these companies are reportedly in a state of complete capital impairment, with unpaid settlements to affiliated artists (Baekhyun, Taemin, and THE BOYZ owed nearly 1 billion each), and unpaid debts to vendors.
ONE HUNDRED Addresses Claims Of Unpaid Settlements To Artists
The report also claimed that though the labels continue to pay salaries, they have begun arriving several days late since November. The situation is reportedly only worsening. Some managers who require operational funds are currently unable to use corporate credit cards and are paying for company vehicle fuel out of pocket. It is also reported that the company has failed to pay vehicle lease fees and has received demands for their return, raising concerns about transportation for artists’ schedules.
The company’s offices are also reportedly at risk due to unpaid rent for the past three months.
Cha Ga Won’s representatives have addressed the situation, confirming that there had been a delay in paying employee insurance premiums. However, they stated that the payments would be made within a day. They also vowed to resolve the issue with the managers’ corporate cards.
