All employees of HeyJini's company publicly acknowledge industrial accident recognition... refuting KidsWorks' claims

Former employee A, who worked at Kidsworks, the company operated by kids YouTuber Hey Jini (real name Kang Hyejin), has rebutted the company’s explanation and disclosed related documents. On the 27th, A posted on an online community stating that the company’s official statement contained information that differed from their actual experience and sought to correct it. A claimed that during their time at Kidsworks, they suffered from panic disorder and depression due to long working hours of up to 16 hours a day and frequent weekend work. They also explained that after about a year of review, they were recognized for an industrial accident by the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service in January 2020. On the same day, Kidsworks expressed regret over A’s health deterioration in an official statement but denied some of the claims as inaccurate. The company stated that they increased A’s annual salary by 25%, adjusted working hours, allowed remote work, and paid bonuses even during leave. They also explained that they did not obstruct the industrial accident application and introduced an external labor attorney to guide the procedures. In response, A argued that the company’s explanations regarding the salary increase rate, working conditions, and bonus payments were not true in several respects. A stated that their starting salary was 20 million KRW and was only raised once to 21 million KRW during employment. Regarding the company’s claim of a 25% raise, A said, ″If 20 million KRW was increased by 25%, it should be 25 million KRW,″ and requested the basis for the calculation. They also disclosed related documents such as the withholding tax receipt for earned income. Regarding remote work and working hours adjustment, A said, ″I never worked remotely during my employment,″ and revealed that long overtime and late departures were frequent. They disclosed email records showing that they borrowed a laptop for company work even while hospitalized due to a fall accident. While acknowledging that the company supported taxi fares and rental deposits, A emphasized that such support was separate from the claim of enduring long working hours. Regarding bonus payments during leave, A explained that on December 28, 2018, they received 2,691,482 KRW from the company, but this amount included both salary and bonuses for the actual working period. The bonus recorded on the 2018 earned income withholding tax receipt was a total of 2.2 million KRW, which was a year-end bonus paid to all employees and not a special support fund considering their illness or leave, A claimed. A also stated that the retirement process differed from the company’s explanation. They said they heard from Hey Jini’s husband, who was a company director at the time, that it would be difficult to continue working together and agreed to resign after being told it would be processed as a voluntary resignation to receive unemployment benefits. However, A said the company later guided them to process it as a sick leave resignation due to concerns about disadvantages to other employees, resulting in them not receiving unemployment benefits. Regarding the industrial accident recognition, A additionally disclosed the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service’s medical care and insurance benefit decision notice dated April 8, 2020, emphasizing that the industrial accident recognition was made through an official review. They stated, ″My industrial accident is not based on mere personal claims or fabricated documents.″ A acknowledged that the company’s support was a fact but said it was separate from the difficulties experienced in the working environment at the time. They added that they hope not only the support provided by the company but also the circumstances under which they worked and why they took leave and resigned will be known.