[Exclusive] 25% of ‘job-linked’ interns abruptly cut... Daewoong says ‘career exploration’ vs. memo warns of ‘unfair dismissal’ risk

Daewoong Group, whose affiliates include Daewoong Pharmaceutical, one of Korea’s top 10 drugmakers by domestic sales, recruited a large number of entry-level interns on a job-linked basis with the premise of converting them to regular employees. It has now been confirmed that the group terminated internship contracts with dozens of them before the end of the term. The company maintains that only those who failed to meet evaluation standards were affected and that the possibility of being “eliminated” was explained in advance, but the dismissed interns counter that they were not given sufficient prior notice.
According to reporting by The Financial News on the 30th, Daewoong Group hired 258 job-linked interns in the second half of last year. The original contract period was three months starting January 5 this year. However, during the training program, 68 interns — 26.4% of the total — were notified that they had been cut. Including those who resigned voluntarily, the remaining number of interns plunged to 175.
Some interns say they were not told in advance that the evaluation conducted during last month’s “introductory basic training” could lead to termination of their contracts. They also point out that, although the head of HR mentioned a failing-grade system, the company did not explain that this could result in the contract being ended.
On the 27th of last month, some interns received notice, and their contracts were terminated the very next day. The interns said, “The company kept repeating that it was based on a ‘comprehensive evaluation result’ without providing specific scores or clear evaluation criteria.”
Daewoong Group, for its part, insists that the recruitment, evaluation, and contract termination processes were lawful. A Daewoong Group representative acknowledged, “It is true that contracts were terminated for those among the job-linked interns who did not meet the evaluation standards,” but added, “We conducted comprehensive evaluations, including weekly and monthly assessments and peer reviews, and we informed them in advance about the evaluation criteria and the possibility of being cut midterm.”
The representative went on to say, “For interns with low performance, keeping them on for the remaining period has little practical meaning, so ending the contract early can actually help them more quickly seek out other opportunities.”
Labor experts view Daewoong Group’s interns as probationary employees who are hired on a trial basis for a certain period before formal employment, in order to assess their suitability for the job. The key points of contention, therefore, are whether the evaluations were conducted objectively and whether the notifications were legally proper.
In its precedents, the Supreme Court of Korea has held that, for termination of a probationary employee’s contract to be justified, there must be reasonable evaluation materials, such as evidence of job performance.
Labor attorney Park Sung-woo pointed out, “If there was no sufficient prior notice about the possibility of midterm termination and it is hard to see the actual evaluation process as fair, then even if the dismissal occurs during the probationary period, there is a possibility it could be deemed an unfair dismissal.”
According to an internal review document obtained by The Financial News, Daewoong Group internally examined the possibility that the early termination of interns could lead to future legal disputes. The document includes a legal analysis suggesting that the early termination could be regarded in substance as a dismissal.
The document also contains concerns that, regardless of whether there is a relevant clause in the employment contract, it may be difficult to establish the legitimacy of the contract termination. In light of this, it reportedly recommends, as part of legal risk management, considering ways to induce interns to resign voluntarily or to obtain agreements not to file lawsuits in the future. In reality, some interns say the company asked them to sign documents without giving them sufficient time to review the contents, raising questions about the procedural fairness of the process.
In response, a Daewoong representative stated, “The internship began on January 5, and in early February we conducted an internal review, including legal risks, regarding the possibility of early termination,” adding, “The review was reported internally, and based on the evaluation results, we concluded that some individuals had no prospect of being hired, so their contracts were terminated as of February 27.” The representative further explained, “We guided the affected interns so that they could start exploring new career paths at an early stage.”

yesji@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Yeji Reporter