(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ok Seong-gu = It has been pointed out that the training materials for labor inspectors, who now have independent investigative authority due to the disappearance of the prosecution's command, remain based on judgment standards from 20 years ago and run counter to recent Supreme Court precedents and Labor Relations Commission rulings.
On the 27th, as a result of analyzing the internal training materials received from the Ministry of Employment and Labor by Rep. Lee Yong-woo of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee of the National Assembly, there was a significant difference in perspective between the content of training for labor inspectors and the judgment standards of the court and labor committee.
For example, in the case of a freelance driver for the ride-hailing service 'Tada' in 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that even though the person concerned recognized himself as a freelancer, "employee status is determined by the substance of the labor provision relationship."
On the other hand, the Ministry of Labor's 'Investigation School Lecture Plan', which is used as training material for newly hired labor supervisors, still indicates 'the presence or absence of (the parties') awareness of the employment contract' as data that can be collected to determine employee status.
Educational materials for in-service supervisors also teach the following as indicators of denying employee status, such as writing a contract or service contract, receiving compensation in the form of a commission without a fixed salary, and being able to attend lectures at other academies.
This standard was also applied in the actual judgment of labor authorities.
In a complaint case filed by a hair designer at a famous franchise hair shop in 2023, the Busan Regional Employment and Labor Office denied employee status on the grounds that there was no contract, but the court overturned the Labor Office's decision, acknowledging the hair designer's employee status.
Even in the case of non-payment of wages, the differences between labor inspector training materials and the current law were noticeable.
The Ministry of Labor's 'Employee Character Judgment Process Lecture Plan' stipulates that even if a worker files a complaint to the Ministry of Labor to clear unpaid wages, if the employer does not intend to pay unpaid wages, the worker will be treated as 'no violation'.
However, under the current law, intentionality of non-payment is a requirement only in criminal cases, not in petition cases.
Even if the non-payment of wages is not intentional, there is no legal basis for not paying it. However, if a business owner is to be punished for non-payment, criminal punishment may be imposed after determining whether the non-payment was intentional.
According to the Ministry of Labor's training materials, if it is determined that the employer did not intentionally delay payment, the complaint case will be administratively closed. In this case, the worker is not protected by the Labor Standards Act and has no choice but to file a civil lawsuit and claim the right to unpaid wages.
Rep. Lee Yong-woo said, “The Ministry of Labor’s anachronistic training materials and administrative expediency are actually making workers cry twice,” and added, “We need to revamp the training process for labor inspectors, which even goes against the Supreme Court precedent.”
Ha Eun-seong, a labor attorney at the Saetbyul Labor Attorney Office who also conducted the investigation, criticized, "The court and the Labor Relations Commission changed their judgment focusing on the 'substance of an independent business,' but the Ministry of Labor is still stuck with the judgment standards from 20 years ago," and added, "Even clear illegal cases are being closed without a corrective order or filing, giving the business owner impunity."
