1. According to Article 6(2) of the former Minimum Wage Act (amended by Act No. 11278, Feb. 1, 2012; hereinafter “former Minimum Wage Act”) with respect to the portion of wages less than the minimum wage amount, the part on which the amount of the labor contract between the employee and the employer subject to the minimum wage is determined as wages is invalid, and the portion is deemed to have been paid the same wages as the minimum wage amount as the minimum wage amount prescribed under the former Minimum Wage Act. Therefore, if the employer paid the employee a wage less than the minimum wage amount, the difference is deemed to constitute money and valuables to be liquidated upon the employee’s death or retirement pursuant to Article 36

However, according to Article 5(2)1 of the former Minimum Wage Act and Article 3(1) of the Enforcement Decree of the Minimum Wage Act, the hourly minimum wage amount for “a person who is in a probationary period and is within three months from the date on which he/she is employed in the probationary period” is the amount calculated by subtracting 10/100 from the minimum hourly wage amount under the latter part of Article 5(1

The judgment below

According to the reasoning, the court below acknowledged the fact that the defendant, who operates convenience points, paid the hourly wage calculated by subtracting 10/100 from the statutory minimum hourly wage amount to E, and E, from the above convenience store for a period of four months from September 7, 2011. Article 5 (2) 1 of the Minimum Wage Act and Article 3 (1) of the Enforcement Decree of the Minimum Wage Act provide for the reduction of the hourly minimum wage amount of "the person who is in a probationary period and is within three months from the date on which he/she is in a probationary period," but on the other hand, Article 5 (2) 1 proviso of the Minimum Wage Act excludes "the worker who has concluded a labor contract for a period of less than one year" from the hourly minimum wage amount reduction, but merely for four months, as alleged by the defendant, E's hourly minimum wage amount.