'Adjunct Lecturer Severance Pay Lawsuit' Information Writer, Yonsei University Legal Dispute

"Not a Single Cent of Severance Pay... The Reality of Part-Time Lecturers and Non-Regular Workers"
Yonsei University: "Short-Hour Workers Should Only Be Calculated After the Enforcement of the Lecturer Act"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Author Jeong Bora, who was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize with her short story collection "Jeojutokki," has filed a lawsuit against Yonsei University, where she worked for about 11 years, claiming severance pay and weekly holiday and annual leave allowances, leading to a legal dispute.

On the 31st, Jeong held a press conference in front of the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul, stating, "I have not received a single penny of severance pay from Yonsei University. This is the reality for part-time lecturers and non-regular workers in South Korea," and added, "I will fight to the end for the construction of an equal university society."

She continued, "Although part-time lecturers are non-regular workers, they are responsible for more than half of the university," criticizing, "Refusing to pay severance pay to them means saying that non-regular workers will be discriminated against."

Jeong taught Russian language, Russian literature, and Russian culture at Yonsei University from March 2010 until December last year but did not receive severance pay after retirement from the school. Accordingly, in April this year, she filed a lawsuit at the Seoul Western District Court against Yonsei University, demanding the calculation of severance pay and various allowances such as weekly holiday and annual leave allowances amounting to 50 million KRW.

Jeong argues that the entire approximately 11 years she taught at the school should be used as the basis for calculating severance pay.

On the other hand, the university's position is to calculate working hours and pay severance pay only from the implementation of the Lecturer Act, which regulates the treatment and status of part-time lecturers (from the second semester of 2019). Since Jeong is a short-hour worker working less than 15 hours a week, the university claims it has no obligation to pay severance pay for the period worked before the implementation of the Lecturer Act.

According to the Labor Standards Act and the Act on Guarantee of Retirement Benefits, short-hour workers are not eligible for weekly holiday allowances, paid leave, or severance pay. Regarding this, Jeong claims that she actually worked more than 200 hours per semester to teach one 3-credit course.

At the first hearing held that day, Jeong stated, "I not only gave lectures but also performed all tasks such as lecture preparation, exam and assignment submission and evaluation, and student management without a break," and asserted, "I worked very hard and want to receive fair compensation."

The Korean Non-Regular Professors' Labor Union also pointed out, "Jeong was selected as an excellent lecturer for six years and received the President's Award. She prepared lectures diligently to that extent," and criticized, "Yonsei University demanded research achievements from Jeong and assigned academic administrative tasks, making her do work beyond lecture hours."

They further stated, "To prevent individual lecturers from bearing litigation costs, standards for severance pay and allowance payments for part-time lecturers must be established as soon as possible," and warned, "Otherwise, we will prepare for a large-scale class-action lawsuit."

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