[Plaintiff, Appellee] Plaintiff
[Defendant, Appellant] Defendant School Foundation
[Judgment Below] First instance: Seoul Civil District Court; Second instance: Seoul High Court, Judgment rendered April 22, 1971, Case No. 69Na3703
[Order]
The appeal is dismissed.
The costs of the appeal shall be borne by the Defendant.
[Reasoning]
Examining the grounds of appeal submitted by the Defendant's litigation representative:
It is deemed that, in light of the actual conditions in our country where the protection of workers' rights and interests is insufficient, Article 28 of the Labor Standards Act (근로기준법) was amended in order to strongly guarantee, by statutory provision, the payment of retirement allowances for the purpose of securing the livelihood of workers after retirement. As a result of this amendment, the payment of retirement allowances no longer distinguishes between voluntary retirement by the worker and dismissal caused by the employer. Meanwhile, since the specific time at which a worker's right to claim payment of a retirement allowance against the employer arises is the time of the worker's retirement, the standard time for calculating the retirement allowance should likewise be based on the time of retirement. The lower court's determination—that, pursuant to the amended Article 28 of the Labor Standards Act, which appears to constitute a mandatory provision at that time, the years of continuous service should be calculated in total, spanning both before and after the amendment, with the time of enforcement of the Labor Standards Act serving as the dividing point—is deemed correct. It cannot be said that there was any error of misunderstanding the law as argued in the grounds of appeal. Therefore, the argument is without merit.
Accordingly, since the appeal is without merit, it is dismissed, and the costs of the appeal are to be borne by the losing party. This judgment is rendered as stated in the Order, by the unanimous opinion of all Justices participating in the case.
Supreme Court Justices: Sa Gwang-uk (Presiding Judge), Kim Chi-geol, Hong Nam-pyo, Kim Yeong-se, Yang Byeong-ho