'Registered Executive Who Actually Worked' Can Apply for Wage Claim Confirmation

Application for Confirmation of Workers' Wage Claims by Registered Executive After Company Bankruptcy
Labor Office's 'Unable to Confirm' Disposition... Administrative Appeals Commission "Illegal and Unfair"
"Cannot Deny Worker Status Solely Because of Being a Registered Executive"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] An administrative adjudication ruling has determined that registered executives who actually provide labor under the direction and supervision of the CEO should also be regarded as workers.

On the 22nd, the Central Administrative Adjudication Committee of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced that it decided to cancel the disposition made by the Employment and Labor Office, which had judged that registered directors could not be considered workers. The Labor Office had determined that workers who applied for confirmation of wage claims after the company went bankrupt could not be regarded as workers because they were registered as directors.

According to the Administrative Adjudication Committee, workers A and B became registered directors at company C reluctantly after the business owner asked them to fill the positions. After being registered as directors, the two only held the title nominally and performed production work at the company’s business partners under the supervision of the managing director. After the company went bankrupt, they applied to the Labor Office for confirmation of wage claims to have wages paid on behalf of the business owner but were rejected.

The Labor Office issued a notice of non-confirmation of wage claims, citing reasons such as ▲both being registered as directors in the company’s registry, ▲holding 20% of shares in the shareholder register, and ▲the business owner being deceased, making it impossible to verify the facts. In response, the two filed an administrative adjudication request with the Administrative Adjudication Committee, arguing that the Labor Office’s notice was unlawful.

The Administrative Adjudication Committee focused on the fact that after being registered as directors, ▲they manually recorded their working hours in the attendance log in the same way as other employees, ▲it was confirmed that they did not personally bear the stock payment, and ▲their work was conducted by reporting to the managing director without being granted any special authority. The committee ruled that since both individuals provided labor to the business owner under a subordinate relationship for wages, the Labor Office’s disposition to issue a non-confirmation notice solely because they were registered as directors was illegal and unjust.

Min Seongsim, Director of the Administrative Adjudication Bureau at the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, stated, "If they have never exercised executive authority and continued their existing work under the supervision of a superior, it is reasonable to regard them as workers and provide legal protection."

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