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Successful Defense of Woori Bank in an Ordinary-Wage-Related Dispute

2015.11.26.

Yulchon successfully defended Woori Bank at trial in an "Ordinary-Wage" case brought by its employees. The plaintiffs (represented by three officers of Woori Bank"s labor union) argued that, under the Labor Standards Act, the annual bonus under Woori Bank"s compensation system was required to be included in employees" Ordinary Wage, and they claimed underpaid overtime.

 

This case was closely monitored by both mainstream media and market observers, since Woori Bank faced potential liability for hundreds of billions of Korean Won in unpaid wages, and a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would have had a significant industry-wide impact. The most significant issue in the case was the extent to which regular bonuses that are only paid to employees who remain employed on the payment date, are excluded from Ordinary Wage even if paid pro-rata to those employees based on their actual days worked. This is an issue on which the lower courts have split, but Yulchon successfully defended Woori Bank on all claims with arguments based on the intent of recent Supreme Court precedent and the nature and function of Ordinary Wage. Yulchon"s Dispute Resolution Group and Labor & Employment Practice, which worked in close collaboration on this matter, have been active in some 50 Ordinary-Wage-related lawsuits and expect more to come.