Supreme Court: Fixed-term Public Officials Can Enroll in Employment Insurance Even After 3 Months If Unaware

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Supreme Court has ruled that even if special and fixed-term public officials were unaware that they could exceptionally join employment insurance within three months of appointment and the period has passed, they should still be allowed to enroll.

The Supreme Court's Second Division (Presiding Justice Min Yoo-sook) announced on the 20th that it upheld the appellate court's ruling in favor of public official A, who filed an appeal against the Governor of Jeju Province seeking cancellation of the decision denying employment insurance enrollment.

A was appointed as a part-time contract public official in Jeju Province in 2013 and has worked as a fixed-term public official under two-year appointment agreements since 2015. After learning belatedly that fixed-term public officials could enroll in employment insurance if they wished, A applied for enrollment in 2016 but was told, "You cannot apply after three months from the appointment date."

Article 3-2, Paragraph 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Employment Insurance Act stipulates that "the head of the affiliated institution must apply for enrollment within three months from the date the public official who wishes to join employment insurance is appointed, and if the eligible public official desires, they may directly enroll within that period."

The first trial court ruled in favor of Jeju Province, interpreting the three-month application period stipulated in the Employment Insurance Act as the period during which fixed-term public officials can exercise their right to apply for enrollment, and that if this period is exceeded, the right to apply for employment insurance enrollment is lost.

On the other hand, the second trial court interpreted that since the eligible public official was deprived of the opportunity to apply due to unawareness of the possibility of insurance enrollment, the opportunity to enroll should be granted. Since A learned about the possibility of joining employment insurance around June 2016, the application made within three months from that time was considered to have been submitted within the application period and thus lawful.

The Supreme Court stated, "Even if relief is exceptionally granted to eligible public officials who were deprived of the opportunity to apply without their fault, it does not appear to seriously undermine the soundness of the insurance finances, nor is it considered to infringe on the property rights of other insured persons or violate the principle of equality."

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