67% of Worker Status Confirmation Lawsuits Lost This Year... Companies Fear Direct Employment

'Hyundai Wia Supreme Court Ruling' 1 Year
8 out of 12 Manufacturing Companies Lost to Management This Year
After Hyundai Wia Ruling, Wins Reversed to Losses in Second Trial

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] It has been revealed that most companies involved in similar lawsuits after the Supreme Court ruling that Hyundai Wia must directly employ subcontractor employees have lost. Companies that won in the first trial before the Hyundai Wia ruling in July last year have seen the decisions reversed in the second trial in favor of the workers. If the companies’ losses are confirmed, they will face the burden of directly employing up to thousands of subcontractor employees and the associated additional costs. Furthermore, lawsuits may expand not only to production workers but also to dispatched workers in service and support roles, deepening corporate concerns.

According to the related industry on the 15th, out of a total of 12 labor status confirmation lawsuits this year involving Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor Company, POSCO, Hyundai Glovis, and Korea GM, it was confirmed that the companies lost in 8 cases.

In particular, there were two cases where the companies won in the first trial but were overturned in the second trial. In the lawsuit filed by repair technicians from Samsung Electronics’ service partner companies, the company won in the first trial, but the ruling was reversed in the second trial held in January. In the third direct employment lawsuit involving POSCO, the second trial ruled in favor of the workers, contrary to the first trial’s result. Both second trial rulings came after the Supreme Court’s July ruling that Hyundai Wia must directly employ subcontracted non-regular workers. This is interpreted as the Supreme Court gradually expanding the scope of direct employment. If the companies currently involved in lawsuits lose, they will face a situation where they must directly employ up to thousands of partner company employees.

The business community holds the view that management deterioration is inevitable if companies bear the burden of direct employment costs amid various adverse conditions such as expanding global uncertainties. They particularly argue that it is practically impossible to directly employ all subcontractor employees.

An executive from a major corporation pointed out, "Emphasizing unconditional direct employment could rather have a negative impact on employment," adding, "Since there could be fairness issues with existing regular employees and employment reductions due to concerns over lawsuits, institutional improvements must come first."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.