After a company (the “Insurer”) spun-off its sales and marketing functions to a separate subsidiary insurance agency, a number of the transferred solicitors filed a claim with the local Labor Relations Commission (“LRC”), asserting employee status (rather than independent contractor status) and therefore arguing that their transfer to the agency constituted an unfair transfer. Kim & Chang represented the Insurer in the LRC process, arguing that the solicitors were in fact independent contractors, and obtained a favorable decision, dismissing the claim against the Insurer.

This case is significant for the insurance industry as a whole as if the solicitors’ employee status had been recognized, the number of similar claims filed could have increased. Thus, the recognition of the solicitors as employees could have caused a shift in the operations of many Korean insurers.