Court "Even If a Certificate of Employment Was Issued, No Worker Status Without Actual Direction and Supervision"…Dismissal Nullity Lawsuit Loses on Appeal

Presented a Job Posting and a Certificate of Employment for a Loan, But
Freelancer Status Recognized in the Appellate Trial Following the First Trial

A worker who did loading and unloading of goods in the early morning hours asserted worker status based on a job posting and a certificate of employment and filed a dismissal nullity lawsuit, but lost in the appellate trial following the first trial.

The Suwon High Court announced on the 18th that, in the appellate trial of a dismissal nullity confirmation lawsuit filed by A, a man in his 40s, against B, a manpower supply company, it maintained as is the first-trial result that had ruled against the plaintiff on May 21.

A was assigned in 2023 through B to a department store outlet store, doing loading and unloading of products for about 1 to 2 hours in the early morning hours. Afterward, when A was notified by B of the termination of work, he filed the lawsuit, claiming that he was a formal worker of B, based on the certificate of employment he had obtained for loan purposes and the content of the job posting.

On the other hand, B completely countered that it had employed A in a freelancer form and had never given specific work instructions or managed his commuting. It argued that the certificate of employment at issue was merely issued as a favor for A's convenience, and that the compensation paid was also a business-income form based on the number of boxes transported, so it was not a subordinate employment relationship.

The first-trial court sided with B. It judged that the text message conveying the volume to be loaded and unloaded on the day was merely general guidance necessary for performing the work, and could not be regarded as a specific instruction or supervision.

The appellate court also maintained the first-trial judgment as is. The court panel ruled, "What was important in the relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant was not the provision of labor itself, namely the performance of the work in this case, but the result that products were normally loaded and unloaded, and their quantity." It added that, considering that the compensation paid was also actually processed in a business-income form, A's dismissal nullity confirmation claim, which is premised on the establishment of an employment relationship, was without merit.

Attorney Lim Ha-yeon of Daeryun LLC, who represented B, explained, "Whether one has worker status is judged centering on the actual work structure and whether there is direction and supervision," adding, "By demonstrating the work method, compensation system, and tax processing method, we were able to obtain recognition that it was not an employment relationship."

Reporter Son Jong-wook handbell@kyeonggi.com

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Court "Even If a Certificate of Employment Was Issued, No Worker Status Without Actual Direction and Supervision"…Dismissal Nullity Lawsuit Loses on Appeal (Go)