Labor attorney, I received a verbal notice of dismissal from my company. Is a verbal dismissal also valid?

Hello. This is a labor attorney at Daeryun Law LLC.

Under Article 27 of the Labor Standards Act, in order for an employer to dismiss an employee, the grounds for dismissal and the timing of the dismissal must be notified in writing, and only when there is such written notice is the dismissal recognized as effective.

If a dismissal is merely notified verbally, it is regarded as lacking procedural legitimacy and is, in principle, void.

The written notice need not necessarily take the form of a document titled a notice of dismissal, but the employee must be able to specifically know the grounds for dismissal and the timing of the dismissal.

According to precedent, an electronic document such as an email can also be recognized as written notice if its content is clear, but mere words or a perfunctory notification are insufficient.

In particular, even where the grounds for dismissal are not stated at all or are stated vaguely, this may be judged to be a violation of the Labor Standards Act.

However, even if a dismissal was made verbally and there is room to regard it as void, the employee must file an application for remedy against unfair dismissal with the Labor Relations Commission within three months from the date of receiving the notice of dismissal.

If you miss this period, it is difficult to obtain a remedy.

Because whether a dismissal is effective and how to respond can vary from case to case, it is important to accurately review, through a consultation with a labor attorney at an early stage, whether the dismissal procedure was unlawful and whether a remedy is possible.