Expertise

Compliance regarding employment laws in general

• Employment contracts
• Appointing representative directors (i.e., CEO)
• Fixed-term employment, worker dispatch, short-term employment, and non-regular employment
• Employment visas
• Changing directors and auditors

Korean labor and employment laws provide minimum standards for employment. Because agreements that do not meet these minimum requirements may be deemed unenforceable, understanding these standards in advance and drafting employment contracts that comply with the standards is critical. The Labor and Employment Practice Group not only drafts and reviews employment contracts to satisfy the legal requirements, but also provides counseling for employment visas, appointing directors, and special provisions for non-regular employments.


Employment Policies

• Rules of employment
• Employment Handbook
• Codes of conduct
• Trade secret protection policies
• Privacy policies

The Labor and Employment Practice Group assists clients with preparing various rules of employment that are required by statute, or reviewing them for appropriateness in light of the relevant laws, business, and Korean corporate practice. As ethical management is being emphasized in the recent years, many corporations began to document codes of conduct. Furthermore, to maintain competitive edge, protecting trade secrets and private information has become a determinative factor in success. The Group assists clients in preparing or reviewing code of conduct, trade secret protection policies, and privacy policies.


Compensation and Benefits

• Statutory wages (ordinary wage, average wage)
• Wage systems (annual salary, wage peak)
• Bonus and other compensation systems (stock-sharing, stock options)
• Severance pay system or retirement pension plans (defined benefit, defined contribution)
• Work-for-hire

Under Korean law, failure to pay wages as prescribed under the Labor Standards Act (“LSA”) may result in criminal liability. Whether the wages are properly being distributed in accordance with the LSA may not be easy. Our Labor and Employment Practice Group assists clients not only with reviewing wage systems, but also with designing wage systems, bonus and other compensation systems, as well as implementing and operating severance pay system.


Restructuring and organizational changes

• Mergers and acquisitions, business transfers
• Downsizing (including dismissals for managerial reasons and ERP)
• Management of underperforming employees

Labor issues necessarily arise in organizational changes such as M&A and business transfers. Successful downsizing requires professional advice and assistance from the early stages of planning to implementation. Our Labor and Employment Practice Group has the extensive experience and sophisticated know-how needed to provide our clients with efficient and proper legal counseling and support throughout the process of these changes.


Internal Investigation and Government Audits

• Unfair discrimination and sexual harassment claims
• Embezzlement, breach of trust
• Trade secret misappropriation
• Other violations of company rules
• Labor inspector’s workplace inspection

Objective investigation of facts is critical in cases of violation of law occurs. Our Labor and Employment Practice Group is accustomed in conducting internal investigations fairly and thoroughly and counseling appropriate HR measures to take in accordance with the company rules and customs, while preparing for possible legal disputes that may arise in connection with such measures. In addition, our Labor and Employment Practice Group also provides counseling on appropriate measures during workplace inspections by labor inspectors.


Termination

• Termination and dismissal of employees
• Separation agreements
• Non-competition, non-solicitation
• Severance

Under Korean law, there must be “just cause” for termination. Therefore, one of the issues that appear most frequently is whether termination is justified. Reviewing this issue before terminating an employee is an important step towards minimizing risk of unjust termination claims. Because termination is strictly limited in practice, separation agreements are often used to resolve possible disputes that may arise in relation to terminations. Our Labor and Employment Practice Group accumulated extensive experience and know-how from assisting multinational corporations with drafting separation agreements and addressing non-competition and non-solicitation issues.


Labor relations

• Collective bargaining agreements and negotiation strategy
• Stabilizing labor relations
• Multiple trade unions and industrial unions
• Compliance with labor relations regulations
• Establishment and operation of labor-management committee

Collective bargaining is unique and distinguishable from negotiations for business transactions. One of our Labor and Employment Practice Group’s true value lies on its experience in diagnosing the labor relations, counseling specific improvements that are customized for each particular situation on location and, thereby, establish strategy to stabilize labor relations for mid to long-term basis.


Administrative Proceedings and Litigation

• Labor Relations Commission administrative remedy proceedings
• Wrongful termination lawsuits
• Wage and severance lawsuits

The Labor and Employment Practice Group has played a significant role in many of the leading cases decided in Korean courts addressing labor matters, including employment termination, wage disputes, layoffs, lockouts, and many others. In addition, the Group also represents clients in administrative proceedings before the Labor Relations Commission and the Ministry of Employment and Labor.


Workplace Safety, Health, etc.

• Industrial accident compensation insurance, health insurance
• Industrial accident compensation insurance, health insurance

In Korea, certain insurance policies are mandated by law. Our Labor and Employment Practice Group advises clients in to ensure that they are in compliance with these laws.