A South Korean court rejected a lawsuit from a former SK Hynix employee seeking roughly 950 million won in unpaid wages and bonuses [1].
The ruling underscores the legal boundaries of employee conduct during remote assignments and the validity of termination based on attendance fraud.
The lawsuit was filed by an individual, identified as Person A, who said their firing was invalid. The plaintiff sought a sum between 950 million won and 1 billion won [1]. The case was heard by the Civil Division 1 of the Yeoju Branch of the Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi Province [1].
According to court records, the dispute centered on the plaintiff's conduct between January and June 2020 [1]. During this six-month period, the employee took 30 business trips [1]. The court found that Person A committed attendance violations on approximately 10 of those occasions [1].
These violations included staying at work sites for as little as one to 27 minutes before leaving [1]. Additionally, the court found that the employee overcharged the company for travel time [1]. The court determined that these actions constituted a legitimate reason for termination.
While some reports suggested varying outcomes in different trial stages, the primary record indicates the plaintiff lost the case in the first instance [1], [2]. The court said the company's decision to fire the employee was a justified response to the repeated attendance failures.
“The court found that Person A committed attendance violations on approximately 10 of those occasions.”
This ruling reinforces the authority of South Korean corporations to terminate employment for 'attendance fraud,' even when the violations occur during off-site business trips. By validating the firing of an employee who manipulated travel time and site visits, the court signals that remote work and business travel are subject to the same strict disciplinary standards as office-based attendance.
