Kumho tire workers win pay for substitute holidays
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In South Korea, 1,888 Kumho Tire production workers and their families won a lawsuit against the company for unpaid substitute holiday wages.
The workers argued they were owed additional pay for working on substitute holidays from January 2022 to May of this year. Kumho Tire contended they had already provided adequate rest through existing collective bargaining agreements and that production line workers received more days off than office staff.
The court disagreed, finding that Kumho Tire did not specify in any agreement how it granted these holidays. The judge noted the company’s 4-shift rotation system disrupts workers’ natural rhythms, making additional recovery time reasonable. Kumho Tire’s labor union stated this is the first case to establish a responsibility for paying substitute holiday wages in 24/7 shift-based workplaces, and they hope the ruling will extend to other industries.
While the court rejected the workers’ claims regarding the company’s bonus calculation methods, they did rule in favor of the holiday wage claim.
