The judgment of the court below is reversed.

A defendant shall be punished by imprisonment for four months.

Provided, That the above punishment shall be imposed for one year from the date this judgment becomes final and conclusive.

1. The sentence of the court below against the defendant in the summary of the grounds for appeal is too unreasonable.

2. Judgment on the grounds for appeal by the defendant ex officio shall be examined ex officio.

The lower court found the Defendant guilty of all the facts charged in the instant case, and applied Articles 109(1) and 36 of the former Labor Standards Act to the crime of violating the Labor Standards Act (amended by Act No. 16270, Jan. 15, 2019).

However, Article 109 (1) of the Labor Standards Act provides that a crime of violation of Article 109 of the Labor Standards Act due to delayed payment of wages shall be established at the expiration of 14 days from the date on which the cause for such payment occurred (see, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 94Do1477, Nov. 10, 195). Article 109 (1) of the former Labor Standards Act (amended by Act No. 15108, Nov. 28, 2017; hereinafter the same shall apply) provides that a statutory penalty is “a imprisonment with prison labor for not more than three years or a fine not exceeding twenty million won.” On the other hand, Article 109 (1) of the Labor Standards Act applied by the court below provides that the court below’s statutory penalty is “a imprisonment with prison labor for not more than three years or a fine not exceeding thirty million won, which constitutes a change of punishment after the crime, and thus, the court below’s judgment should not be reversed in its entirety and the remainder of the crime under the Labor Standards Act.

3. Accordingly, the judgment of the court below is reversed under Article 364(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act, and the following is again decided upon without examining the defendant's assertion of unfair sentencing, on the ground that there is a ground for reversal ex officio.

【Grounds for the Judgment of the Supreme Court】 Facts constituting a crime and summary of evidence recognized by the court, the summary of the facts charged and evidence are examined.