Supreme Court: "Overtime Workdays Cannot Be Considered Holidays... No Recognition of Duplicate Allowance Payments"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court has ruled that even if labor and management agree to work on extended workdays, the overtime pay for those days must be calculated and paid separately from holiday pay.

The Supreme Court's Third Division (Presiding Justice Kim Jae-hyung) overturned the lower court's ruling, which partially ruled in favor of bus driver Mr. A in a wage lawsuit against transportation company B, and remanded the case to the Seoul Western District Court, the court announced on the 11th.

Company B operated extended workdays of 10 hours once a month in addition to the standard five-day workweek, according to a collective agreement with the company labor union. Company B paid employees based on 10 hours of work for these extended workdays. However, Mr. A filed a lawsuit claiming that if he worked more than 10 hours on an extended workday, he should receive overlapping holiday pay as well, arguing that the extended workday was effectively a holiday.

The first and second trials ruled in favor of Mr. A, stating that holiday work pay should be paid together for extended work. However, the Supreme Court held a different view. The court stated, "Company B's 'extended workday' cannot be considered a designated holiday," and "holiday pay is not required for overtime work on extended workdays that cannot be regarded as holidays."

It added, "The collective agreement and other documents set a five-day workweek as the basic standard and designate one day as a holiday, but there is no provision that designates the extended workday as a holiday," and "there is no evidence to recognize a separate practice of treating extended workdays as holidays."

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