\'Why should cooks be tested on English?\': Seoul hotel\'s layoffs spark outcry

The Sejong Hotel's labor union has denounced the assessment criteria, which they see as problematic and frustrating after three rounds of voluntary retirements

The Sejong Hotel (from the Sejong Hotel’s website)

As the Sejong Hotel in Seoul’s Myeong-dong neighborhood proceeds with layoffs amid poor business conditions, workers have been up in arms over the demands that even cooks and dishwashers submit to foreign language speaking tests as the hotel decides which workers it will terminate.

A look at the Sejong Hotel’s “standards for rational and fair layoff target selection” on Sunday showed the assessment criteria to include not only performance evaluation scores, but also a foreign language proficiency category worth five points.

Workers who earn the lowest scores out of a maximum of 100 points will be laid off.

The Sejong Hotel previously notified workers on Tuesday and Wednesday that they would need to take an English speaking test, as well as an additional test in each Japanese or Chinese. The English score would be worth three points and the Japanese or Chinese score two points, with proficiency rated as “high,” “intermediate,” or “low.”

“We want all of our employees to participate in the foreign language proficiency assessments without exception, and those who do not do so may be subject to disadvantageous treatment,” the hotel advised.

Most union-affiliated workers did not take the tests, sources said. The union is maintaining that the hotel’s layoff conditions are problematic.

“To date, there have been barely any cases of employees taking regular examinations even when they’re in positions that have them interacting directly with foreign guests, such as those at the front desk,” noted Ko Jin-su, president of the Sejong Hotel labor union.

“The adoption of foreign language testing as a condition for [selecting] targets for layoffs is unacceptable,” he said.

“It’s frustrating to have this continued pressure on employees to leave even after many of them already left through three rounds of voluntary retirements,” he added.

The union also took issue with the assessment criteria including categories related to assets. In addition to foreign language ability, the scoring categories developed by management included performance evaluations (45 points), awards and penalties (10), years of service (10), disabilities (10), and dependent family members (5) — along with the income of other family members (10) and total assets (5).

The hotel notified its employees that they should provide copies of proof of property tax payment and health insurance card. The measure appears to be intended to consider the employees’ ability to make ends meet, but workers have been upset about the demands to share personal information.

“Something like a person’s property tax payment record is an individual’s private information. That sort of criterion is not something that would ordinarily be considered acceptable,” Ko said.

Despite the outcry from the union, the hotel issued instructions to its employees on Tuesday explaining that “language study is essential in the hotel industry, and since there are no positions related to cooking or food and beverages, and the only remaining jobs are in areas such as guest rooms, general affairs, and financial and accounting duties, the extent of [employees’] practical language abilities will need to be a consideration when they are reassigned.”

Since taking a hit to its business with the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the Sejong Hotel has held three rounds of requests for voluntary resignation among its entire staff. The union is predicting that the list of workers to be laid off will be announced this week.

By Seo Hye-mi, staff reporter

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