Definition of unpaid wages and retirement pay (overdue wages)
Definition of unpaid wages and retirement pay
- “Unpaid wages and retirement pay (overdue wages)”generally refer to the failure to liquidate money or valuables(Article 36 of the Labor Standards Act) and to pay wages(Article 43 of the Labor Standards Act) and retirement pay(Body part of Article 9 of Act on Guarantee of Employees' Retirement Benefits).
Resolution by reporting to the local employment and labor office
Petition and complaint
- Workers who have not been paid may, if necessary, file a complaint or petition with the local employment labor office at the workplace after consulting in advance. (Source:
Ministry of Employment and Labor's website)
· The petition refers to a request to allow overdue wages to be paid.
· A complaint refers to a request to punish a employer for violating the Labor Standards Act.
Settlement by civil procedure
Legal aid system
- Target of legal aid
· Workers affected by unpaid wages and retirement pay with monthly wages of less than 4 million won in the final three months(including foreigners residing in Korea) can receive free legal advice by the Korea Legal Aid Corporation. (Article 33-3 of the Legal Aid Act, Article 7 of the Enforcement Rules of the Legal Aid Act, and Subparagraph 1 of Article 5 (2) of the Regulations on Legal Aid Investigation)
Overview of civil procedures related to unpaid wages(overdue wage)
- Application for provisional seizure
· Provisional seizure is a system that prevents the debtor from disposing of the his property in advance as a money claim for the purpose of preserving the execution in the future. (Source: Supreme Court-e Civil Service Center)
· The procedure for provisional seizure shall be exclusively controlled by the district court or the competent court in the main jurisdiction of the object to be pressurized. (Article 278 of the Civil Execution Act)
- Application of payment order (procedure for demand)
· For the purpose of paying a certain amount of money or securities, the court may issue a payment order at the request of the creditor. However, it is limited to cases where it can be delivered in a way other than service by public notice in Korea. (Article 462 of the Civil Procedure Act)
· The application for payment order (recommendation procedure) shall take the exclusive jurisdiction of the creditor's local court or the competent court under Articles 7, 8, 9, 12, or 18 of the Civil Procedure Act. (Article 463 of the Civil Procedure Act)
- Small case trials
· The civil case of the first trial aimed at the payment of a certain quantity of money, other substitutes or securities that does not exceed 30 million won when sued among the cases under the jurisdiction of the district court or district court support is called a "small case". (Article 2 (1) of the Small Case Judgment Act, Body part of Article 1-2 of the Small Case Judgment Rules).
· Small case trials are governed by local courts, branch court of a district court and municipal and county courts. (Article 2 (1) of Trial of Small Claims Act,and Subparagraph 1 of Article 34 (1) of the Court Organization Act)
- Civil court procedure
· Civil court procedure will be carried out in the order of [filing of a suit → service of process → submission of a written answer → pleading and Evidence Investigation → pronouncement of judgment → (appeal) → (appeal to a higher court) → termination of a lawsuit].