Court Recognizes Delivery Rider as Employee for First Time

[Anchor]

A court has issued its first ruling recognizing a delivery rider who receives work through a platform as an employee. This opens a path for riders, who were previously classified as self-employed and excluded from the protections of the Labor Standards Act, to claim their legal rights.

Reporter Jeon Hyeong-u has the story.

[Reporter]

A delivery rider, identified as A, began working under a contract with a delivery agency in May 2021.

Seven months later, after receiving a notice of contract termination from the company, A filed a lawsuit claiming the dismissal was invalid due to a lack of cause and the absence of written notification, and demanded payment of wages for the period of dismissal.

The first trial court dismissed the lawsuit, viewing A as a self-employed individual rather than an employee under the Labor Standards Act, citing the fact that A could autonomously decide whether to perform deliveries.

However, the second trial court recognized A as an employee, ruling that the rider provided labor in a subordinate relationship under the company's direction and supervision, and therefore deemed the dismissal unfair.

The Seoul High Court pointed out that the rider could only perform delivery tasks through the platform company's app, and that both the criteria for calculating compensation and the payment methods were determined according to company standards.

The court also determined that significant direction and supervision were involved, such as dispatching being carried out according to company policy via app algorithms or instructions from management.

[Beom Yu-gyeong, Lawyer/Representative for the delivery rider: The court seems to have placed significant importance on the fact that the company operating the platform restricted certain choices and had rules that were applied uniformly, much like employment regulations. It also emphasized the aspect of compulsion.]

The Rider Union branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions stated, "This is the first ruling to recognize the employee status of delivery workers," and demanded that the Minimum Wage Commission reflect this ruling to resume discussions on minimum compensation per delivery.

[Delivery Rider: The delivery unit price is quite low. Even if I work quickly, I can only do four or five deliveries an hour. It barely reaches the minimum hourly wage.]

If the Supreme Court upholds the intent of this ruling, it is highly likely that a significant number of delivery riders will be protected by labor laws, including minimum wage and restrictions on dismissal, which may also lead to changes in platform business models.

However, some in the industry point out that this ruling is an individual case involving a small-to-medium-sized delivery agency, making it difficult to apply to other companies or platforms.

Reported by Jeon Hyeong-u | Video by Lee Sang-min | Video Editing by Park Hyun-cheol
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.