A part-time worker who disappeared overnight, dual damages left for the convenience store owner

A convenience store owner in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province expressed his frustration over the dual hardships he faced due to a sudden "self-resignation" of a night part-time worker, resulting in loss of sales and a warning from the headquarters.

Even more absurd is the fact that the part-time worker, who left the job without notice, claimed unpaid wages and even reported the case to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

According to JTBC's 'Incident Report', which aired on the 8th, the informant, Mr. A, who has been operating the convenience store since the end of February, hired a part-time worker in her late 20s with extensive convenience store experience as a night worker.

Before her hiring, the part-time worker, Ms. B, had actively expressed her desire to work, stating, "I really want to work here," and "I want to work for a long time. After being hired, I'll work really hard to be helpful," and worked from 11 PM to 9 AM for 5 days a week for about three months.

Mr. A reportedly accommodated Ms. B's demands such as asking for her wages to be paid weekly and for them to be paid earlier. However, their relationship collapsed overnight in early May.

Leaving without notice and consuming expired food… an unattended convenience store for 8 hours

In early May, when Mr. A visited the convenience store during the usual morning shift change, he was met with a shocking situation.

Items were piled up at the cash register, and while there were customers in the store, the part-time worker, Ms. B, was nowhere to be found.

Upon checking the closed-circuit television (CCTV) inside the convenience store, it was revealed that Ms. B had come to work at 11 PM the night before and packed her belongings, leaving without saying a word around 1 AM.

It was also confirmed that before leaving the convenience store empty, Ms. B had taken out food that had expired and needed to be discarded.

Due to Ms. B's unauthorized departure, the convenience store was left unattended for about 8 hours.

Mr. A lamented, "Fortunately, thanks to the conscientious customers, there was no theft, but I incurred a financial loss of about 400,000 won, which is the average sales for the early morning hours."

Mr. A attempted to contact the part-time worker immediately but was unable to reach her and only received a resignation text message the next day stating, "I’m not feeling well and can’t work anymore."

Ms. B made an absurd demand as well. She said, "I apologize for quitting without notice," but "I’m sorry to ask, but please give me the total of 300,000 won I haven’t received since three weeks ago, at 100,000 won each."

However, store owner Mr. A maintained that this 300,000 won was money that Ms. B had voluntarily given up.

He explained that Ms. B had initially asked to receive 100,000 won less from her weekly pay, saying it was for the formula of her soon-to-be-born child.

Although he rejected this proposal at first, he eventually accepted it when Ms. B suggested moving the payday from Saturday to Thursday.

Yet after her unauthorized resignation, she began to demand this money.

Even more absurd was what happened a month later. Mr. A received a call from the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Ms. B reported him, claiming she had not received the 300,000 won in wages.

Feeling wronged, Mr. A explained that this was money Ms. B had initially refused to accept, but the ministry advised him to settle for 150,000 won, stating that there was only a verbal agreement and no written consent.

Ultimately, Mr. A transferred 150,000 won to Ms. B, but the problem did not end there.

Because the convenience store had been left unattended for 8 hours and had no recorded sales, he received a warning from the headquarters.

Mr. A, who had not even reported the incident to the police at the time, revealed that he is currently preparing for a civil lawsuit.

He expressed, "I’m worried this part-time worker might repeat the same behavior elsewhere, and decided to proceed with the lawsuit even if it costs money."

Naver TV 'JTBC News'

Image Source: jtbc 'Incident Report', material photos for better understanding of the article / gettyimagesbank