"600 Billion Won in Holiday Work Allowance Arrears" E-Mart Lawsuit Appeal Verdict on the 2nd

Labor Representative's 'Democratic Legitimacy' at Issue
Claim Dismissed in First Trial After 3 Years and 6 Months Since Filing

The appellate court ruling on the wage lawsuit filed by current and former Emart employees claiming they did not receive holiday work allowances will be announced on the 2nd.

According to industry sources on the 1st, the Seoul High Court Civil Division 15 (Presiding Judges Yoon Kang-yeol, Jung Hyun-kyung, Song Young-bok) will hold the appellate court ruling session the next afternoon for the wage claim lawsuit filed by 1,117 current and former Emart employees against the company. It has been three and a half years since the employees filed the lawsuit, and the appellate court has been hearing the case since August last year.

Previously, Emart employees filed a lawsuit claiming that the company did not pay approximately 60 billion won in holiday work allowances from August 2017 to December 2020. According to the Labor Standards Act, 150% of the ordinary wage must be paid for holiday work, but the employees argue that the company reduced labor costs by having workers use one substitute holiday through consultation with an unauthorized employee representative and paying only 100% of the wage.

The key issue in the lawsuit is the democratic legitimacy of the employee representative. Emart, instead of electing representatives by gathering the majority opinion of employees according to the operation regulations of the labor-management council, appoints company-wide employee representatives as employee representatives through an indirect election by about 150 store workplace representatives. The employees argue that since this employee representative was not elected by direct, secret, anonymous voting, they cannot be considered to represent all employees, and the agreement with management regarding the use of substitute holidays for public holidays is invalid.

However, the first-instance court rejected the employees' claims. The original trial court ruled that under the Labor Standards Act, the employee representative does not necessarily have to be elected by direct, secret, anonymous voting of all employees, and the company's election method does not exceed a reasonable scope to the extent that democratic legitimacy cannot be recognized. The court stated, "It is reasonable to consider that the company has implemented a lawful substitute holiday system."

If the appellate court overturns the original ruling, Emart will inevitably face financial damage. The company would be required to pay holiday work allowances not only to the employees who filed the lawsuit but to all employees. Previously, at a press conference held just before filing the lawsuit, the employees stated, "If the company's unfair wage arrears apply to all employees, it will amount to at least 60 billion won."