The public prosecutor in Belgium is starting an investigation into Plopsa, the operator of a number of amusement parks including Plopsaland. The company is said to have a poisoned corporate culture, with verbal abuse and humiliation. There would also be hardly any room for free time.
The Belgian business newspaper The time conducted interviews with dozens of employees and ex-employees. According to the interviewees, there is frequent transgressive behaviour, such as insults, a divide-and-conquer mentality and an obligation to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Days off or holidays are hardly accepted.
Plopsa CEO Steven Van den Kerkhof is said to be the driver of the toxic culture, assisted by two directors. Van den Kerkhof says that he does not recognize himself in the accusations and many current employees also express their support for the management in a newspaper advertisement.
Plopsa is the company behind a number of amusement parks. The best known is Plopsaland in the Belgian coastal town of De Panne. There are also locations in Antwerp, Hasselt and Coevorden in the Netherlands, among others. It is a subsidiary of Gert Verhulst’s Studio 100, the man behind Samson en Gert, K3 and Kabouter Plop, among others.
Studio 100 has now started its own investigation into the corporate culture at Plopsa. Plopsa’s management may remain in office as long as the investigation is ongoing.
