Samsung Memory Staff to Get About $542,000 Each in Special Bonuses After Next Year’s AGM

Cross-Company Union Reveals Detailed Bonus Plan

Common Organizations at About $383,000, LSI and Others at About $174,000

Samsung Electronics’ Device Solutions division, which runs its semiconductor business, will pay its special management performance bonus, known as OPI2, between late March and early April next year. Memory business employees earning just over 80 million won a year, or about $57,900, stand to receive about 750 million won, or roughly $542,000, before tax.

The Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group cross-company labor union disclosed the detailed plan for the DS division’s special management performance bonus on Oct. 7. The bonus pool will be funded with 10.5% of the division’s operating profit this year. After deducting 49.5% in taxes, including local taxes, along with insurance premiums and donations, the payout will be made in Samsung Electronics shares.

Eligible recipients are employees on the payroll as of Dec. 31 this year, as well as workers on parental, pregnancy, military service or caregiving leave of 90 days or less, as long as their longest period of work this year was in the DS division. Dispatched employees and regional specialists will receive 50% of the calculated amount. One-third of the shares can be sold immediately. The remainder will be locked up for one year and two years, respectively.

Detailed payout rates by business division will be announced in February next year. The payment timing was set for late March to early April, after Samsung Electronics’ annual general meeting in March and a board resolution. The union said the plan did not include an alternative payment method in case shareholders fail to approve an agenda item related to the share payout. The existing management performance bonus, or OPI, will be paid at the end of January next year as usual.

The union also presented estimated payouts by business division. The figures reflect estimated pretax payouts including OPI for employees earning just over 80 million won, or about $57,900, a year, based on the assumption that Samsung Electronics achieves the consensus forecast for this year’s operating profit of 37 trillion won, or about $26.8 billion. Employees in the memory business are estimated to receive about 750 million won, or roughly $542,000, while those in common organizations are pegged at about 530 million won, or around $383,000. Staff in the loss-making System LSI and foundry businesses are estimated to receive about 240 million won, or about $174,000. Actual payouts may vary depending on Samsung Electronics’ earnings and each division’s performance.

The company and the union also plan a joint donation program tied to the bonus payment. If employees voluntarily donate 0.2% to 1% of the special bonus, labor and management will each contribute the same amount under a one-to-one matching format. The specific recipients of the donations will be decided later.

Kim Chae-yeon, Hankyung.com reporter why29@hankyung.com