The defendant's appeal is dismissed.

1. The gist of the grounds for appeal is that the Defendant delayed payment of wages and retirement allowances for workers E is due to the aggravation of management due to changes in international exchange rates, policies for the transition of the citizen in the subway business, etc., and in the process, the Defendant was under restructuring such as the reduction of human resources, and provided the remaining workers with an explanation of the company’s difficult circumstances.

In particular, workers E expressed the intent to help the company remain even after being aware of these circumstances of the company, and the defendant also made every effort to pay unpaid wages, such as raising wages for these E and taking into account the seizure of the company's claims.

Due to the above inevitable circumstances, the defendant delayed payment of the wage of this case, etc., and the defendant cannot be held liable for it.

Nevertheless, the lower court did not recognize such grounds for rejecting liability, and found the Defendant guilty of the facts charged in this case, and the lower court erred by misapprehending the legal doctrine.

2. Determination

A. The crime of violating the obligation to pay wages, retirement allowances, etc. under Articles 109 and 36 of the Labor Standards Act was committed by an employer in the best effort to pay them. However, the exemption is granted only when it is acknowledged in light of social norms that inevitable circumstances, such as financial situation due to business depression, etc., were unable to be paid within the due date, and the employer cannot be exempted from liability merely because it was impossible for the employer to receive financial pressure due to business depression, etc., and, in determining whether there was "inevitable circumstances that could not be paid within the due date", the employer made best efforts to repay wages, retirement allowances, etc. to the fullest extent possible in order to promote the stability of the lives of retired workers, etc., or presented a clear future repayment plan.