[Plaintiffs, Appellants]
[Defendant, Appellee]
[Judgment Below] Seoul High Court Judgment 2007. 9. 21., 2006Na100181
[Order]
The part of the judgment below concerning the wage portion for the period from May 12, 2003 to May 22, 2003, among the portions in which Plaintiff 2, Plaintiff 3, Plaintiff 4, and Plaintiff 5 each lost, is reversed, and this part of the case is remanded to the Seoul High Court. The remainder of the appeals by the above Plaintiffs and all of the appeals by the remaining Plaintiffs other than the above Plaintiffs are all dismissed.
The costs of the appeal incurred by the remaining Plaintiffs other than Plaintiff 2, Plaintiff 3, Plaintiff 4, and Plaintiff 5 shall be borne by said remaining Plaintiffs.
[Reasoning]
1. Regarding the Plaintiffs' claim for unpaid Chuseok bonus and physical fitness allowance
A.
Article 54 of the former Labor Standards Act (「근로기준법」) (before being wholly amended by Act No. 8372 of April 11, 2007) provides that "an employer shall grant workers a paid holiday of at least one day per week on average," and Article 25 of the former Enforcement Decree of the Labor Standards Act (「근로기준법 시행령」) (before being wholly amended by Presidential Decree No. 20142 of June 29, 2007) provides that "the paid holiday under Article 54 of the Act shall be granted to a worker who has worked without absence on all of the prescribed working days of the week," thereby ensuring that workers are given a weekly rest day on which they do not work, based on a one-week period. Furthermore, the Act on the Establishment of Workers' Day (「근로자의 날 제정에 관한 법률」) provides that "May 1 shall be Workers' Day, and this day shall be a paid holiday under the Labor Standards Act." In addition, national holidays and the like may be separately designated as paid or unpaid holidays by collective agreement, rules of employment, or employment contract. Each of the above "holidays," established in the midst of a continuous series of working days, refers to a day on which a worker is completely free from the employer's direction and command and does not provide labor; the holiday system under the current Labor Standards Act was established for the recovery from fatigue and restoration of health of workers engaged in continuous labor, and for the enjoyment of a social and cultural life as a human being through the use of leisure time. Furthermore, a "paid holiday" refers to a holiday on which payment of wages is guaranteed so that workers may make full use of the purpose of the above holiday system, that is, a day on which wages are paid as if ordinary work had been performed even though the worker is resting. In light of the normative purpose of the holiday and paid holiday systems as described above, it should be considered that the application of the special provision on paid holidays, which requires payment of wages to a worker even without the provision of labor, is naturally premised upon the existence of a normal working relationship, that is, a state in which the worker has been providing labor and continued provision of labor is scheduled to continue. Therefore, during a period of leave of absence due to personal circumstances, etc., during which the worker's principal rights and obligations are suspended and the worker does not provide labor, the worker's wage claim, which is the worker's principal right in a relationship of consideration with the obligation to provide labor, does not arise, absent other special circumstances; and in such a case, it must likewise be held that no wage claim arises for a paid holiday included within the period of leave of absence, etc.
Meanwhile, with respect to the payment of wages during a period of industrial action, unless it is provided for in a collective agreement or rules of employment, etc., or unless there is found to be an agreement or practice between the parties concerning such payment, it must be held that during the period of industrial action in which the worker's principal rights and obligations, such as the obligation to provide labor, are suspended and the worker does not provide labor, the worker's wage claim, which is the worker's principal right in a relationship of consideration with the obligation to provide labor, does not arise (see, e.g., Supreme Court en banc Judgment 1995. 12. 21., 94Da26721).
Given that the legal relationship during the period of industrial action is as described above, the legal principle concerning paid holidays discussed above shall likewise apply to a strike, which is a form of industrial action in which the worker's principal rights and obligations, such as the obligation to provide labor, are suspended in the same manner as in the case of a leave of absence, and the worker's wage claim does not arise; therefore, a worker likewise cannot claim payment of wages for a paid holiday included within the strike period.
According to the judgment below and the judgment of the first instance court cited therein, the ○○ Labor Union (hereinafter "the Labor Union"), of which the Plaintiffs (hereinafter, among the Plaintiffs, Plaintiff 2, Plaintiff 3, Plaintiff 4, and Plaintiff 5 are referred to as the "Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials," and the remaining Plaintiffs excluding the above Plaintiffs are referred to as the "Plaintiff Union Members") are members, commenced a strike on May 23, 2003 and ended the strike on September 5, 2003, and it can be ascertained that the Union did not suspend the strike by ending it and then resuming it again during the period of industrial action, and that there is neither a provision in a collective agreement or rules of employment, etc., concerning the payment of wages during industrial action, nor an agreement or practice between the parties concerning such payment, and further that it is difficult to recognize even a labor practice whereby, in the Defendant's method of paying and deducting bonuses, when there is a cause for deduction such as absence, the bonus is deducted according to the actual number of days absent excluding holidays.
In light of the legal principles discussed above, applied to these facts, it must be held that the Plaintiffs cannot claim payment of the bonus for unpaid holidays included within the strike period, and furthermore, cannot claim payment of the bonus as an exercise of the wage claim for paid holidays included within the strike period.
The Plaintiffs assert, on the opposite premise, that the bonus should be paid for the holidays included within the strike period; the conclusion of the judgment below rejecting this argument is justified.
The Plaintiffs' grounds of appeal on this point are without merit.
B. The court below held that "the Defendant is obligated to pay the Plaintiff Union Members the equivalent amount of unpaid wages for the period from May 20, 2003 to May 22, 2003, which was the period of the temporary union member general meeting," and ordered payment of wages, including bonuses calculated based on the existing salary, for the above three-day period.
However, according to the judgment of the first instance court cited by the court below, it can be ascertained that, in the 2003 Wage Agreement concluded between the Defendant and the Labor Union on September 8, 2003, it was agreed that, retroactive to March 1, 2003, the existing 15% wage gap with the three companies in the same industry would be raised and paid (hereinafter, this amount is referred to as the "retroactive raise amount").
However, since the Plaintiff Union Members, in this lawsuit, seek only the retroactive raise amount for the specified period of the strike, namely from May 23, 2003 to September 5, 2003, and do not seek the retroactive raise amount for the period from May 20, 2003 to May 22, 2003, there is no illegality in the judgment below of failure to render a judgment as alleged in the Plaintiff Union Members' grounds of appeal.
2. Regarding the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials' claim for salary
A. The court below held that Article 23, Items 1 through 3 of the collective agreement in this case provide for the payment of a certain salary to full-time union officials to the extent that they are not treated less favorably than general union members who are engaged in the labor originally to be provided under the employment contract, and that treating full-time union officials more favorably than general union members would not be consistent with what both labor and management originally intended in light of the purpose and intent of the provisions of the collective agreement in this case; therefore, it is reasonable to interpret the provision as meaning that, in cases where general union members are not paid wages by the employer for the strike period under the principle of "no work, no pay," full-time union officials likewise cannot claim salary from the employer in the same manner as general union members, and accordingly determined that the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials cannot claim salary from the Defendant, the employer, for the strike period, in the same manner as general union members.
Such determination by the court below is justified and acceptable in light of the relevant provisions and the record of this case.
There is no illegality in the judgment below, such as misapprehension of the legal principles concerning the interpretation of the collective agreement and the money received by full-time union officials, as alleged in the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials' grounds of appeal.
B. With respect to the claims of the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials, the court below held that the period from May 12, 2003 to May 22, 2003 cannot be regarded as a period during which the strike took place, and therefore the Defendant is obligated to pay the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials wages for the said 11-day period, and ordered payment of wages, calculated based on the existing salary but not including bonuses, for the said 11-day period.
Although the judgment below did not reflect the retroactive raise amount in calculating the wages for the said 11-day period for the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials, since the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials, in this lawsuit, did not seek the retroactive raise amount of wages for themselves, there is no illegality in the judgment below of failure to render a judgment as alleged in the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials' grounds of appeal.
C. However, it can be ascertained, even from the judgment below itself, that the salary which the Defendant must pay to workers, including the Plaintiffs, includes, in addition to the base pay, various bonuses amounting to a total of 800% of the standard pay, and that in calculating wages, bonuses are to be taken into account in addition to the base pay, etc.
Nevertheless, the court below calculated the wages for the period from May 12, 2003 to May 22, 2003 based solely on the base pay, etc., without considering the bonus portion at all as described above; such judgment below contains an error of misapprehending the legal principles concerning the calculation of wages, and it is clear that this error affected the judgment.
The part of the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials' grounds of appeal pointing out this error has merit.
3. Conclusion
Therefore, the part of the judgment below concerning the wage portion for the period from May 12, 2003 to May 22, 2003, among the portions in which the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials each lost, is reversed, and this part of the case is remanded to the court below for further hearing and determination; the remainder of the appeals by the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials and all of the appeals by the remaining Plaintiffs other than the above Plaintiffs are dismissed; and the costs of the appeal incurred by the remaining Plaintiffs other than the Plaintiff Full-time Union Officials shall be borne by said remaining Plaintiffs; it is so decided by unanimous opinion of the participating Justices as set forth in the Order.
Justice Yang Chang-soo (Presiding Justice), Yang Seung-tae, Kim Ji-hyung (Justice in Charge), Jeon Su-an