February 27, 2004
South Korean credit card firm sacks staff via SMS
South Korea's third-largest credit card issuer, KEB Credit Service Co, sacked a quarter of its workforce (161 employees) via text messages on Friday, after negotiations with striking unionised workers broke down, according to an article in Forbes.
The first report of an employee being sacked by SMS I ever read about occured in England, in February 2001, when an office adminstrator, Zoe Halls, received an SMS from her boss, stating: "We don't need you in at work tomorrow, I'll phone you AM to explain - John".
Other examples:
- Last year, 2'500 insurance staffers of UK insurance company The Accident Group were sacked by SMS. (cf Thousands are sacked - by text )
- Also last year, an Australian traffic controller was fired. The former employee took his former employer to court - not for offences against the language, but over the procedural fairness and validity of his dismissal. (cf Sacked by SMS)
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