In December 2021, Chanel Korea cosmetic counter workers, under the Chanel Korea Workers Union, announced they would be going on an indefinite strike, calling for improvements to working conditions.

The workers demanded bonuses for their contribution to online sales, and holiday pay as per the Labour Law.

The union also announced it had reported Chanel Korea to the Ministry of Employment and Labour for violation of the Labour Standards Act and the Labour Relations Adjustment Act, alleging that the company had not been giving workers paid holiday leave. The union also filed a complaint against the company with the OECD, for breaching the human rights and labour provisions of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Chanel Korea refuted the allegations, stating that claims they did not pay workers their legal holiday leave were false.

The strike involved 390 union members, and resulted in 60 out of 85 Chanel-operating stores closing.

Five days after the strike was launched, the union and Chanel Korea management had agreed on a new collective agreement, with provisions including a 4.2% wage increase, changes to company policy to comply with legal holiday leave and workers to be retroactively paid owed allowance over the past two years.

However, the union said they would not withdraw the OECD complaint until accusations of sexual harassment by a senior executive was addressed and solved.

In April 2022, the Korean branch of the OECD announced it had decided to begin mediation procedures between Chanel Korea's labour union and management over the company's alleged violation of labour acts and human rights.