Article Content

Title:
Labor Standards Act ( 2020.06.10 Modified )Ch

  Chapter Ⅱ Labor Contract

Article 9
Labor contracts may be divided into two categories: fixed term contracts and non-fixed term contracts. A contract in nature for temporary, short-term, seasonal or specific work may be made as a fixed term contract, but a contract for continuous work, should be a non-fixed term contract. The labor contract between a dispatching entity and a dispatched worker shall be a non-fixed term contract.
In any one of the following situations, a fixed term contract shall be deemed as to be a non-fixed term upon the expiration of the contract:
1. Where an employer raises no immediate objection when a worker continues his/her work.
2. Where, despite the execution of a new contract, the prior contract and the new one together cover a period of more than ninety days and the period of time between expiration of the prior contract and execution of the new one does not exceed thirty days.
The preceding paragraph shall not apply in the case of a fixed term contract for specific or seasonal work.
Article 9-1
An employer shall not make a after-resignation business strife limitation agreement with an employee unless the following requirements have been met:
1. The employer has proper business interests that require being protected.
2. The position or job of the employee entitles him or her to have access to or be able to use the employer’s trade secrets.
3. The period, area, scope of occupational activities and prospective employers with respect to the business strife limitation shall not exceed a reasonable range.
4. The employer shall reasonably compensate the employee concerned who does not engage in business strife activities for the losses incurred by him or her.
The reasonable compensation referred to in Subparagraph 4 of the preceding paragraph shall not include the remuneration received by the employee during employment.
Any agreement in violation of any of the provisions of Paragraph 1 shall be null and void.
The period of business strife limitation shall not exceed a maximum up to two years. If such a period is more than two years, then it shall be shortened to two years.
Article 10
If a new contract is executed, or an existing contract is renewed, within three months after the expiration of a fixed term contract or the termination of a non-fixed term contract for cause, the service period accrued before the execution or renewal of the contract shall be combined with the service period of the new or renewed contract in any computation of service period.
Article 10-1
When transferring an employee, an employer shall not violate the provisions of labor contract and shall also satisfy the following principles:
1. The employee shall be transferred based on the needs of business operation and without improper motives or purposes. Matters not provided for herein shall be governed by other applicable statutes.
2. The wages and other working conditions shall not be changed to be unfavorable to the employee concerned.
3. The employee shall still be able to satisfactorily perform the duties required in terms of physical ability and skills after the transfer.
4. The employer shall provide necessary assistance if the relocated workplace where is too far away for the employee concerned
5. The livelihood interests of the employee and his or her family shall be considered.
Article 11
No employer shall, even by advance notice to a worker, terminate a labor contract unless one of the following situation arises:
1. Where the employers' businesses are suspended, or has been transferred.
2. Where the employers' businesses suffers an operating losses, or business contractions.
3. Where force majeure necessitates the suspension of business for more than one month.
4. Where the change of the nature of business necessitates the reduction of workforce and the terminated employees can not be reassigned to other suitable positions.
5. A particular worker is clearly not able to perform satisfactorily the duties required of the position held.
Article 12
In any of the following situations, an employer may terminate a labor contract without advance notice:
1. Where a worker misrepresents any fact at the time of signing of a labor contract in a manner which might mislead his/ her employer and thus caused him/her to sustain damage therefrom.
2. Where a worker commits a violent act against or grossly insults the employer, his /her family member or agent of the employer, or a fellow worker.
3. Where a worker has been sentenced to temporary imprisonment in a final and conclusive judgment, and is not granted a suspended sentence or permitted to commute the sentence to payment of a fine.
4. Where a worker is in serious breach of the labor contract or in serious violation of work rules.
5. Where a worker deliberately damages or abuses any machinery, tool, raw materials, product or other property of the employer or deliberately discloses any technical or confidential information of the employer thereby causing damage to the employer.
6. Where a worker is, without good cause, absent from work for three consecutive days, or for a total six days in any month.
Where an employer desires to terminate a labor contract pursuant to Subparagraphs 1 and 2, Subparagraphs 4 to 6 of the preceding paragraph, he/she shall do so within thirty days from the date he/she becomes aware of the particular situation.
Article 13
An employer shall not terminate a contract with a worker who is on leave from work pursuant to Article 50 or, is receiving medical treatment pursuant to Article 59, unless the employer cannot continue operating the business due to an act of God, catastrophe or other force majeure and a prior approval has been obtained from the competent authorities.
Article 14
A worker may terminate a labor contract without giving advance notice to the employer in any of the following situations:
1. Where an employer misrepresents any fact at the time of signing a labor contract in a manner which might mislead his/her worker and thus caused him/her to sustain damage therefrom.
2. Where an employer, his/her family member or his/ her agent commits violence or grossly insults the worker.
3. Where the work specified in a labor contract is likely to be injurious to the worker's health and the worker has requested his/her employer to improve working conditions but all in vain.
4. The employer, the agent of the employer, or co-worker suffers from a noted contagious disease that may infect employees working with the infected person and seriously endanger their health.
5. Where an employer fails to pay for work in accordance with the labor contract or to give sufficient work to a worker who is paid on a piecework basis.
6. Where an employer breaches a labor contract or violates any labor statute or administrative regulation in a manner likely to adversely affect the rights and interests of the particular worker.
If an employee intends to terminate the contract in accordance with Subparagraph 1 or 6 of the preceding Paragraph, he or she shall do so within 30 days of the date the employee became knowledgeable of the situation. However, the employee shall do so within 30 days of the date of the employee knowing the result of damages in the event the employer falls under any of the circumstances specified in Subparagraph 6.
An employee shall not terminate the contract under any of the circumstances specified in Subparagraph 2 or 4 of Paragraph 1 if the employer has terminated an agency contract, or if the party suffering from a noted contagious disease has received treatment in accordance with health regulations.
The provisions of Article 17 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the termination of labor contract pursuant to this article.
Article 15
In the case of a specific fixed term contract for a term of more than three years, a worker may, upon completion of three years' work, terminate the contract by giving the employer an advance notice thirty days before he/her severance.
In the case of a worker terminating a non-fixed term contract, the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 16 pertaining to the prescribed time limit for serving an advance notice shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Article 15-1
An employer shall not make a minimum service period agreement with an employee unless one of the following requirements has been met:
1. The employer provides the employee with professional skills training at the employer’s expense.
2. The employer provides the employee with reasonable compensation to comply with the minimum service period agreement.
The minimum service period agreement referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be considered in terms of the following conditions and shall be limited in a reasonable range:
1. Period and costs of the professional skills training provided by the employer to the employee concerned.
2.Possibility of replacing the employee concerned by other employees engaging in the same or a similar job.
3.Amount and scope of the compensation provided by the employer to the employee concerned.
4.Other matters influencing the reasonableness of the minimum service period.
Any agreement in violation of the preceding two paragraphs shall be null and void.
If the labor contract is terminated prior to the completion of the minimum service period due to any cause not attributable to the employee concerned, he or she shall not be deemed as violating the minimum service period agreement and shall not be obligated to reimburse the training expenses.
Article 16
Where an employer terminates a labor contract pursuant to Article 11 or the provisions of Article 13, the provisions set forth below shall govern the minimum period of advance notice:
1. Where a worker has worked continuously for more than three months but less than one year, the notice shall be given ten days in advance.
2. Where a worker has worked continuously for more than one year but less than three years, the notice shall be given twenty days in advance.
3. Where a worker has worked continuously for more than three years, the notice shall be given thirty days in advance.
After receiving the advance notice referred to in the proceeding paragraph, a worker may, during hours of work, ask for leave of absence for the purpose of finding a new job. Such leave of absence may not exceed two work days per week. Wages shall be paid during such leave of absence.
Where an employer terminates the contract without serving an advance notice within the time limit prescribed in the first paragraph of this article, he/she shall pay the worker wages for the advance notice period.
Article 17
An employer terminating a labor contract pursuant to the preceding Article shall issue severance pay to the worker in accordance with the terms set forth below.
1. If the worker continues to work for a business entity owned by the same employer, severance pay that is equal to one month’s average wage for each year of service;
2. The severance pay for the months remaining after calculation in accordance with the preceding subparagraph, or for workers who have been employed for less than one year shall be calculated proportionally; any period of employment less than a month shall be calculated as one month.
Employers shall issue the severance pay of the preceding Paragraph within 30 days after the labor contract is terminated.
Article 17-1
A dispatch-requiring entity shall not interview the dispatched worker or undertake any other conduct of appointing a specific dispatched worker before dispatching entity and a dispatched worker sign a labor contract.
If a dispatch-requiring entity violated the preceding paragraph and has received the service of the dispatched worker, the dispatched worker may, within 90 days since the first day that service was provided, express in writing his or her intention to establish a labor contract with the dispatch-requiring entity.
The dispatch-requiring entity shall negotiate with the dispatched worker about the establishment of labor contract within ten days since the first day of receiving the dispatched worker’s intention. If the negotiation has not taken place within ten days or the negotiation has failed, the labor contract shall be established between two parties since the day after the aforesaid ten days have expired. The contract shall contain labor conditions that were in effect during the period that dispatched worker actually worked for the dispatch-requiring entity.
When a dispatched worker expresses his/her intention in accordance with the Paragraph 2, the dispatching entity and the dispatch-requiring entity shall not terminate, demote, reduce wages of; or harm the rights and benefits under the law, contract or norm; or take any unfavorable measure against the dispatched worker.
It shall be invalid if the dispatching entity and the dispatch-requiring entity carry out any of the conduct in the preceding paragraph.
When a dispatched worker signs a labor contract with a dispatch-requiring entity according to Paragraphs 2 and 3, his/her labor contract with the dispatching entity is deemed to be terminated, and the dispatched worker is neither responsible for the minimum service period as required nor for refunding training expenses.
The dispatching entity in the preceding paragraph shall pay the dispatched worker retirement pension or severance pay in accordance with the payment criteria and duration set forth in the Act or the Labor Pension Act.
Article 18
In any of the following situations, a worker shall not claim from the employer either additional wages for the advance notice period or severance pay:
1. A labor contract is terminated pursuant to Article 12 or 15.
2. The worker leaves his/her service upon expiration of a fixed term contract.
Article 19
Upon termination of a labor contract, neither an employer nor the employer's agent shall reject a request from the worker for proof of service record.
Article 20
When a business entity is restructured or changes ownership, except for those workers to be retained through negotiations between the old and the new employers, the employer shall terminate labor contracts with the remaining workers by giving the minimum advance notice prescribed by Article 16 and shall pay severance payment in accordance with Article 17. The new employer shall recognize the prior period of service of those workers to be retained.