The Supreme Court recently rendered a decision stating that a comprehensive wage agreement applied to express bus crew members is valid. Pursuant to Supreme Court Decisions No. 2018Da298904 (rendered on February 10, 2022) and No. 2017Da238004 (rendered on February 11, 2022), the Court ruled that a comprehensive wage agreement entered into between an express bus company and its crew was valid in relation to their overtime and nighttime work allowances.
By way of background, the employer entered into a wage agreement with its crew members under which it would pay "a fixed amount of an agreed-upon route allowance corresponding to overtime and nighttime work of a certain number of hours per month for a full month’s work." The actual route allowance to be paid was calculated based on various factors such as the actual number of trips, etc. and thus was set as the minimum amount to be paid. However, if the actual route allowance exceeded the agreed-upon route allowance, the amount in excess was to be increased by a certain rate. The employer paid the above calculated route allowance to each crew member in the name of an overtime allowance and nighttime allowance.
The Supreme Court ruled that the comprehensive wage agreement entered into by the employer with its crew members was valid in relation to overtime and nighttime work allowances of the crew, taking into account the "special details of work, type of work, and working hours of the bus transportation business".
However, as to the holiday work allowance, paid holiday allowance, and annual leave allowance, the Supreme Court noted that they have been paid separately from the route allowance, and thus ruled that the above comprehensive wage agreement is not valid with regard to holiday work allowance, paid holiday allowance, and annual leave allowance for the crew members.
For your reference, on June 25, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that a comprehensive wage agreement for crew members of other express bus companies was valid for overtime work and nighttime work allowances (Supreme Court Decision No. 2015Da8803). In addition, referring to this Supreme Court precedent, the Busan High Court also ruled to the effect that the comprehensive wage agreement entered into by express bus companies with crew members is valid for overtime work and nighttime work allowances (Busan High Court Decision No. 2019Na50277 rendered on January 13, 2021, etc.).
In light of the aforementioned, it is expected that the Supreme Court will continue to render similar decisions with regard to the validity of the comprehensive wage agreement between express bus companies and their crew members. Moreover, the Supreme Court is expected to comprehensively consider factors such as the characteristics of each industry, the particular work scope, the type of work, and working hours of the employees in the relevant industry when determining whether the requirements for recognizing the validity of a comprehensive wage agreement, such as the "it would be impossible to calculate working hours" standard are met. Therefore, in the case of a business place that has adopted and enforced or plans to adopt the comprehensive wage system, it is necessary to carefully review the various factors that the Supreme Court considers when determining the validity of the comprehensive wage system in order to check the validity before adopting it to one’s particular business place.
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