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A Homeplus store in Seoul. / Yonhap

Homeplus's labor and management have agreed to cooperate on implementing a self-rescue plan to normalize operations and advance the company's rehabilitation process. Under the plan, temporary measures such as adjusting the timing of wage and bonus payments will secure liquidity and speed up rehabilitation efforts.

Homeplus announced on the 31st that the Mart Workers' Union Homeplus Branch, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' Homeplus General Labor Union, and the Hanmaeum Council, a representative body for employees, agreed that operational normalization and the self-rescue plan must proceed without disruption for the company's normalization.

Earlier, on the 27th, labor unions and employee representatives held a meeting with management and agreed to temporarily adjust the timing and method of payment for some employee benefits in order to ease the liquidity burden.

The agreement includes adjustments to the timing of regular bonus and wage payments. The regular bonus originally scheduled for payment in September will instead be paid in equal installments over six months, and wages will be deferred by two months each, through March of next year. As a result, July salaries will be paid in September.

The employment stability support payment — worth up to 12 months of base salary and previously paid to employees of closed stores upon their departure — will no longer be paid. The relocation allowance previously paid to employees of closed stores when transferring to another store will instead be paid in installments over six months.

The agreement comes as roughly 200 billion won in emergency debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing is being pursued with support from the National Assembly. Homeplus plans to prioritize the secured funds toward stabilizing product supply, normalizing operations, and covering employee salaries and essential operating costs, in order to maintain its going-concern value.

The company also expects that the labor-management agreement will help smooth the ongoing process of adjusting operations at some stores and proceeding with store closures.

A Homeplus official said, "As the labor unions and employees have made difficult decisions for the company's normalization, we will focus all our capabilities on normalizing operations and restoring corporate value," adding, "Continued support and cooperation from stakeholders, including partner companies, the government, and creditors, are also urgently needed."

                                                                                                      Jeong Moon-kyung