Bodyfriend, a health and wellness technology company known for premium massage chairs, was hit with criticisms on Wednesday after allegations surfaced that the company forced its employees to sign unfair contract. 


According to some employees, the contract in question contained details such as an agreement by an employee to participate in the company’s wellness program conducted under its medical R&D center. Although the details of the program were not revealed, the company said that the program was intended to “help employees maintain their health.” 

Employees, however, claimed that the company went through a list of those who had not turned in the agreement and even had face-to-face talks to get their signatures. Some of the employees said that the company was collecting such agreement so they can sell their signature product to employees. Bodyfriend’s latest massage chair model is priced at around 3 million won ($2,683) to 4 million won per chair. 

The company denied that it was not mandatory for all employees to participate in the program. 

“Since we are a healthcare company, we aimed to run an in-work program that can benefit all of our 1,000 employees. We did give out notices about the program several times, and that may have caused employees to feel pressured,” a Bodyfriend official was quoted as saying.

Earlier this year, the company publicly announced that it will improve welfare policies and in-work benefits after some employees exposed that the company officials made personal attacks against an overweight employee and publicly humiliated him by taking away his snacks.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)