[Decision] Court Rules Two Academies 25 Minutes Apart Are Not a Single Workplace

Published 08 Dec.2025 14:00(KST)

A court has ruled that two private academies, located 25 minutes apart and operated by the same director, cannot be considered a single workplace.

On October 2, the Administrative Division 12 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Presiding Judge Kang Jaewon) delivered a ruling against instructor A, who filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the decision of the Central Labor Relations Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Central Commission). Instructor A argued that the two academies run by the same director should be regarded as a single workplace and that the academy should be recognized as a business with five or more employees, thus accepting his application for relief from unfair dismissal. However, the court did not accept this argument (Case No. 2024GuHap84295).

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[Facts]

Instructor A worked as a part-time instructor at C Academy, operated by Director B, and was notified of the termination of his employment in February 2024 due to complaints from parents. Instructor A filed a petition for relief with the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission, claiming unfair dismissal. However, the commission dismissed the application, stating that C Academy was a business with fewer than five regular employees. The Central Labor Relations Commission reached the same conclusion. Instructor A then filed a lawsuit to overturn the Central Commission's decision, arguing, "Director B operates both C Academy and D Academy, and there is no clear separation of accounting between the two academies. The distance between them is also very short, so the academies should be considered as having at least five regular employees."

[Court Ruling]

The court ruled against the plaintiff, stating, "It is reasonable to consider that C Academy has fewer than five regular employees."

The court further held, "There is no basis to calculate the number of regular employees by combining the employees of the two academies."

The court considered the following factors: ▲ each academy is separately registered as a business entity; ▲ the two academies are about 1.5 kilometers apart, which is not close enough to recognize a significant human or physical connection; ▲ the composition of part-time instructors and other personnel differs between the two academies; ▲ each part-time instructor signed an employment contract specifying the particular academy; and ▲ there is no evidence of personnel exchanges between the two academies.