By Lee Kyung-min
Some 468 contract workers at Kia Motor may get regular worker status following a court ruling Thursday.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of 468 contract workers of the country's second-largest carmaker, confirming that they should be regarded as employees hired directly by Kia Motor.
The workers also demanded that Kia Motor pay them 81 billion won ($7.7 million), but the court granted only part of that, ordering Kia to pay 16 billion won.
The verdict came a week after nearly 1,000 non-regular workers from Hyundai Motor and its subcontractors also won a lawsuit to be recognized as regular employees.
"The workers belonged to subcontractors, but they received orders from Kia Motor and were supervised by the company so they should be regarded as regular employees of the firm," the court said.
A related law says non-regular workers should be recognized as regular employees if they are hired for more than two years continuously.
The workers had the same production work as regular employees working for Kia Motor. But they could not get the same level of salaries and perks as regular workers.
The legal battle of contractors' demanding regular employee status started in November 2010 after the Supreme Court ruled that such discrimination was wrong in a suit filed by one such non-regular worker, Choi Byeong-seung, who worked at Hyundai Motor's plant in Ulsan.
The top court ruled that Choi was a full-time Hyundai Motor employee, not the subcontractor.
Following the ruling, 1,175 Hyundai contract workers filed suit to confirm they also belonged to Hyundai Motor and to demand higher wages as Hyundai's regular employees, which they won.
The non-regular employees at companies such as Samsung Electronics Service, GM Korea Company, POSCO and Hyundai HYSCO filed suit with similar demands and are awaiting their verdicts.
Currently, almost 20 percent of the workers from companies with more than 300 workers are known to be contract workers, with their number reaching 870,000.
Some 468 contract workers at Kia Motor may get regular worker status following a court ruling Thursday.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of 468 contract workers of the country's second-largest carmaker, confirming that they should be regarded as employees hired directly by Kia Motor.
The workers also demanded that Kia Motor pay them 81 billion won ($7.7 million), but the court granted only part of that, ordering Kia to pay 16 billion won.
The verdict came a week after nearly 1,000 non-regular workers from Hyundai Motor and its subcontractors also won a lawsuit to be recognized as regular employees.
"The workers belonged to subcontractors, but they received orders from Kia Motor and were supervised by the company so they should be regarded as regular employees of the firm," the court said.
A related law says non-regular workers should be recognized as regular employees if they are hired for more than two years continuously.
The workers had the same production work as regular employees working for Kia Motor. But they could not get the same level of salaries and perks as regular workers.
The legal battle of contractors' demanding regular employee status started in November 2010 after the Supreme Court ruled that such discrimination was wrong in a suit filed by one such non-regular worker, Choi Byeong-seung, who worked at Hyundai Motor's plant in Ulsan.
The top court ruled that Choi was a full-time Hyundai Motor employee, not the subcontractor.
Following the ruling, 1,175 Hyundai contract workers filed suit to confirm they also belonged to Hyundai Motor and to demand higher wages as Hyundai's regular employees, which they won.
The non-regular employees at companies such as Samsung Electronics Service, GM Korea Company, POSCO and Hyundai HYSCO filed suit with similar demands and are awaiting their verdicts.
Currently, almost 20 percent of the workers from companies with more than 300 workers are known to be contract workers, with their number reaching 870,000.
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