Court: Delivery Workers for Large Mart Online Orders Are Also Workers Under the Labor Union Act

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A court ruling has determined that delivery drivers for online orders from large supermarkets should be considered workers under the Labor Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (Labor Union Act).

According to the court on the 12th, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 13 (Presiding Judge Park Jeongdae) ruled against plaintiff A in a lawsuit seeking cancellation of a reconsideration decision regarding the announcement of collective bargaining request facts filed against the Central Labor Relations Commission.

Previously, company A had a consignment contract with Homeplus and delivered online order products. In August 2020, the Mart Industry Labor Union, which included about 150 affiliated delivery drivers, requested collective bargaining.

However, company A did not respond to the bargaining request and did not announce the fact of the bargaining request. The company argued that the online delivery drivers did not meet the requirements of workers under the Labor Union Act, so there was no need to respond to the bargaining.

Nevertheless, the Labor Relations Commission decided that company A had an obligation to announce the fact of the bargaining request in relation to the correction request filed by the union.

Company A filed an administrative lawsuit, claiming that the delivery drivers had the authority to decide contract terms and free market access, thus lacking worker status. They also argued that the drivers’ income was not compensation for labor provided, and that the company’s involvement in the drivers’ work was minimal, resulting in low levels of direction and supervision.

The first trial sided with the delivery drivers.

The court stated, "The delivery drivers in this case meet the requirements of workers under the Labor Union Act," and pointed out, "In today’s large supermarket distribution structure, it is very difficult for delivery drivers to directly contract with large supermarkets or handle product delivery without going through a transportation company."

The court also noted that the delivery drivers receive a fixed salary in exchange for handling a basic number of deliveries set by the company, and face disadvantages such as reduced transportation fees if they do not follow the company’s manual.

The court added, "Overall contract conditions are determined unilaterally by the company, which completely prohibits collective actions by delivery drivers and specifies this as grounds for contract termination," and stated, "There is a great need to allow delivery drivers to negotiate contract terms on an equal footing with the plaintiff through a labor union."

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