It has been revealed in ‘Biz Korea’ that employees at the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) were found to go sightseeing instead of attending the educational session of their overseas training.
As part of the ‘International Business Specialist Training Program’. KHNP selects some employees every year to provide them with training in overseas universities.
Employee A from KHNP was selected as a candidate for the overseas training in 2017, and left abroad in the second half of that year. “It is difficult to reveal the details because the specific time and place of the overseas training are considered personal information,” said an official at KHNP.
Before leaving the country, Employee A submitted a pledge to the company that he would return back to Korea on the designated date and comply with the rules of the overseas education and training.
However, Employee A was absent for two days during the training period and did a personal tour instead.
Furthermore, he changed his return date without the company’s approval, and returned back to Korea one day later than the originally scheduled date.
“The company told me that if I gave a notice in advance, I could be absent from the training for up to three days. I changed the date of my return ticket because the day after the training, it was a national holiday,” said Employee A during his statement. However, after an investigation against KHNP, it was revealed that Employee A had planned the sightseeing tour days, and had already reserved accommodations before his departure.
Employee A also encouraged Employee B, who also went to the overseas training, to change the date of his return ticket. Employee B also changed his flight schedule without the company’s approval and came back one day later than the scheduled date. Furthermore, it was revealed that Employee B was absent for one day during the training period and took a personal tour instead.
KHNP’s net profit for 2017 was 776.8 million dollars, down sharply from the 2.23 billion dollars in 2016. The net profit in the first quarter of this year was only 58.9 million dollars, making the situation even harder for the company. It seems hard to avoid criticism that the situation of the company has fallen from bad public corporations to morality of the employees.
KHNP auditors asked the company for disciplinary actions against Employee A and B. Moreover, they also notified the overseas department responsible for the education training to prepare educational control devices.
“In order to prevent a recurrence, the guideline reflects the contents of the procedures such as the management of the attendance during the educational training and appointment of a director in charge of supervising the training when two or more employees attend the session,” said an official of KHNP.
