The lawsuit related to Hyundai Heavy Industries' ordinary wages, which amounted to 630 billion won in total payments, was concluded after 10 years as both labor and management accepted the court's decision to adjust the forced adjustment.
The first civil division of the Busan High Court (Presiding Judge Kim Mun-gwan) accepted the forced adjustment decision made on the 28th of last month in relation to a case in which 10 Hyundai Heavy Industries workers claimed additional statutory allowances for recalculation of ordinary wages against the management. It was announced today (12th) that it did.
After the forced adjustment decision on the 28th of last month, the plaintiff (worker) and the defendant (Hyundai Heavy Industries) submitted a waiver of objection to the court on the 11th this afternoon.
At the same time, the same type of case filed by 12,437 Hyundai Heavy Industries workers was also withdrawn by the plaintiff and the defendant.
As a result, the economic adjustment decision has the same effect as the final judgment result, bringing to an end the 10-year-long lawsuit.
The content of compulsory adjustment contains the content that all bonuses (800%) are included in ordinary wages to calculate and pay unpaid statutory allowances and severance pay in accordance with the purpose of the Supreme Court's ruling on remand overturning.
The lawsuit began in December 2012 when 10 HHI workers filed a claim against the management for additional statutory allowances based on recalculation of ordinary wages (wages paid regularly, uniformly, and fixedly to workers in exchange for work).
The issues of the lawsuit were whether 700% of regular bonuses and 100% of holiday bonuses could be regarded as ordinary wages, and whether the company could afford to pay retroactive wages.
The first trial raised the hand of the workers.
All 800% of bonuses were recognized as ordinary wages, and we did not accept the company's claim that retroactive wage payments would cause serious management difficulties.
On the other hand, the second trial raised the company's hand.
The Busan High Court, the Court of Appeal, found that 100% holiday bonuses cannot be regarded as ordinary wages, and 700% regular bonuses can be regarded as ordinary wages. I decided it was.
However, the Supreme Court ruled on appeal that 100% of holiday bonuses can be regarded as ordinary wages, and even if a company temporarily faces business difficulties, if there is a possibility of overcoming business difficulties in the future, it is easy to claim additional statutory allowances by citing the principle of good faith. Judging that it should not be rejected, the 2nd trial was destroyed and the case was sent back to the Busan High Court.
The plaintiffs in this trial are 10 workers, but since labor and management agreed to recognize this case as a representative lawsuit for workers in 2013, the decision applies to all former and current workers of Hyundai Heavy Industries, which number about 30,000.
With the finalization of the forced adjustment decision, it is known that the additional statutory allowances to be paid by the company to the workers amount to 630 billion won (based on the judgment of the centrifugal court).
This mediation was carried out four times with the union of Hyundai Heavy Industries, the representative litigator, participating as a participant in the mediation through active mediation by the court.
Although a final agreement was not reached in the mediation trial, it is a view inside and outside the industry that it can be seen as a de facto agreement as both labor and management accept the mediation proposal recommended by the court.
The court said that the amount was calculated based on legal judgments as much as possible in relation to this compulsory adjustment, and that the legal claims of the plaintiffs and workers were guaranteed.
In addition, he explained that it is significant that the decision on compulsory mediation was set as a precedent so that it could serve as a standard as a representative lawsuit.
The judge said, "Considering the opinion that another follow-up dispute should not occur after this case, which has been ongoing for 10 years, is finalized, we recommend that the management side yield to the acceptance of the representative lawsuit at the 4th mediation date. We narrowed it down and came up with an adjustment plan," he said.
An official from Hyundai Heavy Industries related to the mediation said, "The company has decided to accept the court's mediation plan in order to quickly settle the long-running ordinary wage lawsuit and lay the foundation for a 100-year-old company based on developmental and future-oriented labor-management relations."
Hyundai Heavy Industries plans to pay unpaid wages to employees and retirees from April.
The management estimated the total payment amount to be around 700 billion won, with about 38,000 people eligible for payment, which is more than the size estimated in the first trial.
The company will announce the payment method and procedure later.
The company said that after the Supreme Court ruling in December 2021, the company's burden was set as a provision and reflected, and the interest expected to occur thereafter was also covered quarterly.