“The Law Recognizes ‘Contracts Exceeding 2 Years’ for Professionals… The Intent is Employment Stability”,
‘(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Mi-ryeong = A court ruled that terminating the employment contract of a temporary researcher who had been participating in project tasks for several years during a maternity leave while the research project was still ongoing constitutes unfair dismissal.’,
On the 25th, according to legal circles, the Seoul Administrative Court’s 14th Administrative Division (presiding judge Song Gak-yeop) recently ruled in favor of the defendant in a lawsuit filed by Pusan National University Hospital against the Central Labor Relations Commission’s chairman to cancel a reconsideration verdict for unfair dismissal remedy.’,
‘Mr. A began working as research personnel on a research project implemented by a subsidiary of the hospital after signing an employment contract with Pusan National University Hospital in January 2019.’,
‘While Mr. A was working through three contract renewals, the hospital’s consortium took on a new project until 2028, leading to his resignation on January 1, 2021, and a new one-year employment contract on the same day to participate in the new project.’,
‘Mr. A renewed the new contract once and took annual leave and maternity leave from October 1 to December 31 of that year due to pregnancy.’,
‘However, on December 6, the hospital informed Mr. A that the contract would end on the 31st, and he would be dismissed due to the contract’s expiration.’,
‘Mr. A applied for an unfair dismissal remedy to the regional labor office, but upon rejection, he requested a reconsideration from the Central Labor Relations Commission.’,
‘The Central Labor Relations Commission accepted the case, stating that there was an expectation of contract renewal and no reasonable grounds for the hospital’s refusal to renew, deeming it unfair dismissal.’,
“The hospital filed a lawsuit claiming ‘a lawful contract termination due to the expiration of the term.'”,
‘The court ruled in agreement with the Central Labor Relations Commission that it was indeed unfair dismissal.’,
‘The court explained that the intention behind the exception clause in the temporary employment law, which allows the use of temporary workers for over 2 years for professionals such as researchers, includes promoting employment stability and the stable execution of research projects. The court noted that broadly ensuring contract renewal aligns with the legislative intent in cases where only short-term contracts are signed compared to the long-term nature of research projects.’,
‘Additionally, the employment regulations at Pusan National University Hospital allow for contracts to be “less than 2 years, but renewable if necessary,” indicating the possibility of renewal. The court observed that “especially, the guidelines for operating research contract positions assume that employment contracts are renewed annually and can be maintained for a long period.”‘,
‘The court judged that based on the history of multiple contract renewals between Mr. A and the hospital and the continuation of their substantial employment relationship, Mr. A had a legitimate expectation of contract renewal.’,
‘The hospital argued there were reasonable grounds for refusing contract renewal due to changes in work content and budgetary constraints, but the court did not accept this, noting that the essential work content hadn’t significantly changed, and the replacement work was not substantially different from the prior tasks.’,