CONTENTS
- 1. Industrial Accident Litigation, the Detailed Circumstances
- - Industrial Accident Litigation, the Relevant Statutes
- 2. Industrial Accident Litigation, the Court's Determination
- - Industrial Accident Litigation, the Local Labor Office's Determination
- 3. Industrial Accident Litigation, Daeryun's Strategy
1. Industrial Accident Litigation, the Detailed Circumstances
In this industrial accident litigation, the plaintiff was Transport Company A, which filed a lawsuit against the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service seeking revocation of the disposition approving medical care insurance benefits.
For its transport operations, Transport Company A had entered into employment contracts with 13 in-house trailer drivers and service contracts with 15 freelance trailer drivers.
In the course of this, B, a freelance trailer driver, suffered an accident in which his left leg was caught while helping another driver move a vehicle within Company A's worksite.
B applied to the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service for medical care insurance benefits, and the Service approved the application.
Company A, however, filed a lawsuit seeking revocation of this disposition, asserting that B was not an employee under the Labor Standards Act.
Industrial Accident Litigation, the Relevant Statutes
🔗An industrial accident refers to mental or physical harm to a worker arising from work-related causes, such as the working environment or work activities.
Where a worker is exposed to a hazardous working environment or contracts a disease because of the work, the worker may apply for industrial accident insurance benefits and may claim damages from the employer.
A worker who has suffered an occupational accident may, under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, receive insurance benefits such as medical care benefits, temporary disability benefits, disability benefits, nursing benefits, survivors' benefits, injury-disease compensation annuity, funeral expenses, and vocational rehabilitation benefits.
■ Criteria for Recognizing an Industrial Accident 1) Criteria for Recognizing an Occupational Disease - Where the worker has a history of handling or being exposed to harmful or hazardous factors in the course of performing the work - Where it is medically recognized that the disease arose because the worker was exposed to, or handled, harmful or hazardous factors
2) Criteria for Recognizing an Accidental Disease - Where a causal relationship between the occupational injury and the disease is medically recognized - Where the symptom is not one that arose naturally from an underlying or pre-existing disease |
2. Industrial Accident Litigation, the Court's Determination
The court that heard this industrial accident litigation recognized B's employee status and found that the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service's disposition approving the medical care benefits was lawful.
The court stated that "freelance drivers also received dispatch instructions from Company A's clients, performed transport work, and then recorded the vehicle operation status in an application," and found that the work of freelance drivers was no different from that of in-house drivers.
Although B's service contract did not separately set commuting hours, B had handled Company A's transport work at fixed hours six days a week, and even taking leave or leaving early required Company A's permission. Accordingly, the court found that B was bound to the working hours and place designated by Company A.
In addition, the fact that Company A bore the insurance premiums, fuel costs, and repair costs for the vehicle B operated also served as a basis for recognizing his employee status. The court found that "because the trailer B operated was registered under Company A's name, B cannot be regarded as having performed the transport work as an independent business operator."
The court also found that the transport fees B received were compensation for the provision of labor. Under the service contract, B received 35% of the transport revenue as a transport fee. On this point, the court stated, "although B was paid money in the name of transport fees rather than wages, the amounts received each month did not differ greatly given the nature of the work," and found that "it is reasonable to regard this as compensation for the provision of labor rather than compensation for the completion of the service work."
Industrial Accident Litigation, the Local Labor Office's Determination
Before this judgment, the Local Labor Office had denied the employee status of C, a freelance driver who had worked for Company A under the same conditions as B.
C had filed a complaint claiming severance pay on the premise of employee status under the Labor Standards Act, but the Labor Office found that C was not an employee.
It was noted that the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service may decide whether to approve industrial accident coverage independently of the Labor Office's denial of employee status.
3. Industrial Accident Litigation, Daeryun's Strategy
We have analyzed a district court judgment recognizing the employee status of a freelance driver who performed transport work at fixed hours and received vehicle insurance premiums, fuel costs, and repair costs from the company in connection with this industrial accident litigation.
An industrial accident lawsuit is a lawsuit against a state agency, which requires a legal understanding and presents the difficulty of having to prove a causal relationship between the work and the accident or disease, so the assistance of an experienced professional may be helpful.
Daeryun Law Firm LLP's 🔗attorneys handling industrial accident matters draw on extensive practical experience to provide advice on labor law generally and to assist with the resolution of disputes. If you need assistance with a related matter, you are welcome to contact Daeryun at any time.
