Plaintiff 1 and six others (Attorneys Kim Jong-soo et al., Counsel for the plaintiff-appellant)

KT Co., Ltd. (Law Firm C & C, Attorneys Cho Tae-tae et al., Counsel for the plaintiff-appellant)

October 7, 2004

1. The plaintiff (appointed)'s claims are all dismissed.

2. The costs of the lawsuit are assessed against the plaintiffs (appointed parties).

The defendant shall pay to the plaintiff (designated parties, hereinafter referred to as the "Plaintiffs") and its designated parties an amount equivalent to the corresponding amount in the "total" list of the retirement allowances payable in attached Form, and to each of the above amounts, 5% per annum from October 1, 2003 to the service date of a copy of the application for expansion of claim of this case, and 20% per annum from the next day to the day of full payment.

1. Basic facts

The following facts are not disputed between the parties, or each of the following facts is acknowledged: Gap evidence of subparagraphs 1 through 3, Eul evidence of subparagraph 1 through 7, Eul evidence of subparagraph 1, Eul evidence of subparagraph 2, Eul evidence of subparagraph 2-1 through 21, Eul evidence of subparagraph 4-1 through 23, Eul evidence of subparagraph 5-1 through 6, Eul evidence of subparagraph 5-6, Eul's evidence of subparagraph 7-1 through 24, Eul evidence of subparagraph 8-1 through 20, Eul evidence of subparagraph 9-1 through 10-3, Eul evidence of subparagraph 11-1 through 8, Eul evidence of subparagraph 12-1 through 3, Eul evidence of subparagraph 11-1 through 13-1, Eul evidence of subparagraph 14 through 17, Eul evidence of subparagraph 14-27, Eul evidence of subparagraph 2, Eul evidence of subparagraph 2-1 through 27, Eul evidence of subparagraph 3-2, Eul evidence of subparagraph 1 through 3-3, evidence of subparagraph 27.

A. Status of the parties

The Defendant Company was a corporation established for the purpose of information and communications business and new media business, and the Plaintiffs and designated parties (hereinafter referred to as “Plaintiffs, etc.”) were individually employed by the Defendant Company on each corresponding date indicated in the “Date of Admission” list of the unpaid retirement allowance details.

B. Performance of quarterly honorary retirement of Defendant Company

In order to enhance the efficiency of human resources management and rationalize management, the defendant company has served for not less than 20 years in the defendant company in accordance with the personnel regulations and collective agreements of the defendant company, and has received applications for retirement of the applicants for retirement through deliberation of the personnel committee on a quarterly basis on three, six,9, and December 4 every year for the remaining employees, etc. The defendant company newly established a provision that, on December 31, 2002, if an employee who wishes to make a voluntary retirement applies for a leave of absence to provide a job-seeking education provided by the defendant company for a certain period of time and the above employee may receive remuneration equivalent to a non-degree course dispatched.

(c) Application for temporary retirement or temporary retirement from office on a quarterly basis, 2003;

(1) On March 21, 2003 or June 20 of the same year, the defendant company had served in the defendant company for not less than 20 years in accordance with the above personnel regulations, etc., and has made a quarterly public announcement of the execution of the quarterly voluntary retirement in 2003, stating that the retirement date shall be the first quarter or 2/4 quarter in 2003 (the first quarter in 2003) or June 30, 2003 (the second quarter in 2/4th in 2003) for the remaining employees.

(2) Accordingly, the Plaintiff et al. prepared an application for voluntary retirement in the first quarter of January 4, 2003 or second quarter of 2/4 as of the corresponding date indicated in the “application date for retirement” of the same Table and submitted it to the Defendant Company, and applied for temporary retirement for temporary retirement for participation in job transfer education provided by the Defendant Company pursuant to Article 28(3) of the above personnel regulations (306 applicants for temporary retirement in January 4, 2003 received by the Defendant Company according to the above implementation announcement, and 81 applicants for voluntary retirement in February 2/4, 2003).

(3) On March 31, 2003 or June 30 of the same year, after deliberation by the personnel committee, the defendant company ordered the applicants who wished to voluntarily retire in accordance with the above enforcement notice to voluntarily retire in the first quarter or second quarter of 2003. On the other hand, on September 30, 2003, with respect to the plaintiff et al. who applied for conditional employment support, the defendant company ordered the temporary retirement between six months (on April 1, 2003 to September 30 of the same year) and three months (on July 1, 2003, 203 to September 30 of the same year) or three months (on July 30, 2003, 14) with respect to the 14 persons among the applicants who applied for conditional employment support.

Accordingly, pursuant to Article 53 of the Remuneration Regulations of the Defendant Company that the Plaintiff, etc. shall pay retirement allowances within 14 days from the date when the grounds for payment of retirement allowances occurred, the Defendant Company paid the full amount of the statutory retirement allowances to the Plaintiff, etc. (for the applicants for the quarterly retirement in January 15, 2003, April 15, 2003, and for the applicants for the quarterly retirement in February 15, 2003, July 15, 2003, respectively), and the voluntary retirement amount calculated pursuant to Article 51 of the above Remuneration Regulations was also paid in addition to the payment of remuneration under the above Remuneration Regulations during the above period of retirement.

(d) Special honorary retirement and desired retirement under a new labor-management agreement;

(1) On August 8, 2003, the Defendant Company received a request from the Defendant Company’s trade union to extend opportunities for voluntary retirement by relaxing the above personnel regulations that restrict persons subject to voluntary retirement from a person who has served continuously for not less than 20 years. On September 18, 2003, the Defendant Company agreed to set and implement separate criteria between the Defendant Company’s trade union and the Civil Service Commission for collective bargaining as of August 8, 2003, stating that “Notwithstanding the qualification requirements provisions stipulated in the collective agreement, the Civil Service Commission may establish and implement separate criteria.”

(1) Special voluntary retirement shall be for at least 15 years in continuous service and voluntary retirement shall be less than 15 years in continuous service, but excluding a person whose remaining retirement age is less than one year.

(2) Special retirement allowances shall be paid differently by class only for a person who has retired at a gold time (special honor and desired retirement).

(3) Where a retired worker wishes to be re-employed, he/she shall guarantee the employment (information and communications designer, etc.) for one year.

(4) The standards and procedures for the examination of special honorary retirement and the retirement shall be determined by the company in September: Provided, That personnel officials and associates shall also be eligible for special honorary retirement.

(5) Special honor and desired retirement shall be limited to a gold club (one-time).

(2) On September 19, 2003, the defendant company announced that the special honorary retirement and voluntary retirement should be implemented in accordance with the labor-management agreement as above, but the retirement date is October 1, 2003, and the retirement date is separate from the applicant for voluntary retirement in March 1, 2003, and that the defendant company received it separately from the applicant for voluntary retirement in March 4, 2003, and on September 24, 2003, the following was newly established in the Addenda to the remuneration regulations of the defendant company.

Article 3 of the Addenda to the Rules on Remuneration (No. 582 of September 24, 2003) 【Special Cases concerning Payment of Honorable Retirement Money, etc.】

(1) The sum of the amount of voluntary retirement of a person who voluntarily retires during October 2003 pursuant to Article 34 of the Personnel Regulations shall be as follows:

1. Amount calculated in accordance with Article 51 of the Regulations;

2. Employees of Grade II or higher in rank shall be 50/100 under subparagraph 1;

Grade 3 (Appointment and Dissemination) Employees shall be 60/100 of the provisions of subparagraph 1.

The personnel of Grade IV or lower in rank shall be 70/100 of the personnel of subparagraph 1.

(2) Pursuant to Article 34-3 of the Personnel Regulations, a desired retirement allowance for a person who retires desired during October 2003 (a special desired retirement person) shall be the following sum: Provided, That a regular treatment employee shall be excluded herefrom:

1. Amount computed in accordance with Article 52 (1) of the Regulations;

2. 10/100 of subparagraph 1; and

(3) On October 1, 2003, the Defendant Company issued a special honorary retirement or voluntary retirement order to 5,505 employees who applied for special voluntary retirement or voluntary retirement from September 19, 2003 to the 30th of the same month, following deliberation by the personnel committee, and paid a retirement allowance under Article 3 of the Addenda to the above provision of remuneration.

On the other hand, the defendant company, who served for not less than 20 years in accordance with the above personnel regulations on September 30, 2003, ordered 16 employees who applied for voluntary retirement in March 4, 2003 from among the remaining employees for not less than one year of retirement, to receive the voluntary retirement under Article 51 of the above remuneration regulations after deliberation by the personnel committee in March 3/4, 2003.

E. Provisions regarding voluntary retirement of Defendant Company

(1) Personnel Regulations (No. 580 of August 28, 2003)

【Temporary Retirement】

(3) Where an employee who desires to retire applies for a leave of absence to provide vocational support to a company, he/she may issue an order of leave of absence. In such cases, matters subject to leave of absence, criteria for operation, etc. shall

【Period of Temporary Retirement】

7. The temporary retirement period as prescribed in Article 28 (3) and (4) shall be determined by the appointing authority;

【Honorable Retirement】

(1) Where an employee who has served in the Republic of Korea for at least 20 years desires to retire before a disease, a person who died in the line of duty, or the retirement date falls under one year or more, he/she may voluntarily retire after deliberation by the personnel committee: Provided, That the president may separately determine and implement the criteria for retirement, such as

(3) The president shall separately determine the timing, etc. for voluntary retirement.

Article 34-3 【Voluntary Retirement】

(1) Where the president deems it necessary for the rationalization of management such as the efficient management of human resources, he/she may recruit retired candidates and retire after deliberation of the personnel committee.

(2) The president shall separately determine the types of occupation, qualification standards, etc. of retired applicants under paragraph (1).

(2) Remuneration Regulations (No. 582 September 24, 2003)

【Reasons for Payment】

(1) Where an employee has served for at least one year and falls under any of the following subparagraphs, a retirement allowance shall be paid to him/her:

1. Dismissal;

2. Discipline, dismissal and dismissal;

3. Retirement due to the expiration of contract period; and

4. Where an employee is appointed as an executive.

5. Where an employee is appointed as a regular treatment employee;

Article 48 【Period of Service Excluded】

The period of leave of absence and the period of suspension from office, except cases falling under any of the following subparagraphs, shall not be included in the period of continuous service under Article 45:

1. The period of temporary retirement from office to perform the requisition, call-up under the Military Service Act or other duties under the provisions of Acts;

2. Period of leave of absence of those who have been indicted in criminal cases and have been suspended from office, non-prosecution disposition or not guilty.

3. Period of childcare leave.

4. The period of temporary retirement when it is unknown whether he/she is alive or dead due to war, disaster, etc.

5. Temporary retirement from office at the time of registered transfer.

Article 51 (Voluntary Retirement)

(1) Voluntary retirees under personnel regulations shall be paid 75/100 of the monthly fixed amount of the standard annual salary or the basic salary multiplied by the number of remaining months calculated under paragraph (2).

(2) The method of calculating the number of remaining months shall be calculated by adding one month to the number of remaining months every two months from the date following the retirement to the retirement date, and for ten years exceeding five years, the remaining months every five years shall be added to the number of remaining months every five years, and for ten years exceeding five years, one month every four months: Provided, That when calculating the number of remaining months, any period less than four months shall be calculated as one month.

(3) Where the standard benefits in the calculation of honorary retirement allowances have been reduced due to temporary retirement for job transfer support education under Article 28 (3) of the Personnel Regulations, the amount of voluntary retirement benefits shall be calculated based on the amount before such reduction.

(3) A collective agreement on September 1, 2001

【Honorable Retirement】

Where a member of a company who has served for not less than 20 years desires to retire before the date of his/her disease, official wound, or retirement, the company may have him/her voluntarily retire after deliberation by the personnel committee: Provided, That it shall be implemented quarterly except in cases where the labor and management have agreed otherwise.

Article 45 (Calculation Method of Retirement Allowances)

Retirement allowances shall be the amount calculated by the following formula: Provided, That the fractional amount less than ten won of the total amount calculated shall not be calculated:

Retirement pay = Average wage ¡¿ (average number of years of service in a continuous period of less than one year + Number of days of continuous service/365)

【Period of Service】

(1) The continuous service period shall be from the date of employment to the date when grounds for retirement allowances arise.

(2) Any of the following persons shall include his/her continuous service period:

1. The period of temporary retirement from office to perform the requisition, call-up under the Military Service Act or other duties under the provisions of Acts;

2. Period of leave of absence in cases where a member who was indicted for a criminal case and was laid off is subject to a non-prosecution disposition or acquittal.

3. Period of temporary retirement in cases where it is unknown whether he/she is alive or dead due to war, disaster.

4. Period of childcare leave;

5. Temporary retirement from office at the time of registered transfer.

2. Judgment on the main defense of this case

A. The parties' assertion

With respect to the lawsuit of this case that the plaintiff et al. claimed that the defendant company is obligated to pay the plaintiff et al. for additional statutory retirement allowances due to erroneous calculation of continuous service period and the amount of honorary retirement allowances paid based on the labor-management agreement signed on September 18, 2003, the defendant company, the plaintiff et al. expressed the defendant company's intention to "not to exercise any civil or criminal lawsuit against the defect in the indication of retirement intention and any other related company" when applying for temporary retirement from office on the corresponding date as stated in the "application date for temporary retirement" of the attached retirement allowance statement for the attached retirement allowance statement, and this constitutes an indemnent agreement related to voluntary retirement. Thus, the plaintiff et al. raised the lawsuit of this case in violation of

B. Determination

According to the evidence No. 3-6 through 21 of the evidence No. 3-6 through 21 of the evidence No. 4-6 through 23 of the evidence No. 5-6 of the evidence No. 5-6 of the evidence No. 7, Eul No. 7-5 through 24, Eul No. 8-5 through 20 of the evidence No. 8-9, Eul No. 10-3, Eul No. 11-3 through 8 of the evidence No. 11, and Eul No. 12-3 of the above evidence No. 12, the plaintiff et al. applied for voluntary retirement and conditional retirement assistance and submitted an application for temporary retirement assistance to the company, even though it is recognized that the plaintiff et al. submitted it to the company, the plaintiff et al. did not dispute the validity or validity of the plaintiff's retirement allowance as the plaintiff et al.'s expression of intent in relation to the voluntary retirement, or it did not affect the plaintiff's new assertion that it was unlawful.

3. Judgment on the merits

(a) A claim for additional payment of statutory retirement allowances for calculation of the illegal continuous service period;

(1) Plaintiff et al.’s assertion

Although the plaintiff et al. ordered the plaintiff et al. to voluntarily retire on March 31, 2003 or June 30 of the same year, the employment relationship between the plaintiff et al. and the defendant company is terminated on September 30, 2003 when the plaintiff et al. actually voluntarily retired. Thus, the defendant company paid the plaintiff et al. a statutory retirement allowance calculated by applying the continuous service period to the plaintiff et al. until September 30, 2003, although the defendant company paid the plaintiff et al. a statutory retirement allowance calculated by applying the continuous service period until March 31, 2003 or June 30 of the same year as the date of the issuance of the voluntary retirement, it omitted the period of service between six months or three months by calculating the statutory retirement allowance and paying it. Thus, the defendant company is obligated to additionally pay the plaintiff et al. the amount corresponding to the "legal retirement allowance" stated in the separate sheet corresponding to the difference.

(2) Determination

As seen earlier, the fact that the date of voluntary retirement of the plaintiff et al. was September 30, 2003 is as follows: (i) the period of temporary retirement under the Military Service Act, or the duty under other Acts, (ii) the period of temporary retirement in a criminal case, (iii) the period of temporary retirement in case where the plaintiff et al. was detained and sentenced to a non-prosecution disposition or not guilty, (iv) the period of temporary retirement in a civil case, and (v) the period of temporary retirement, such as wartime or crisis, is included in the period of continuous service, and (v) the period of temporary retirement, such as the period of temporary retirement at the time of temporary retirement, are included in the period of continuous service. According to the above facts of recognition, even if the employment relationship between the plaintiff et al. and the defendant et al. was terminated on September 30, 200, the plaintiff et al. is excluded from the period of continuous service in accordance with the above remuneration regulations, and thus, in calculating the statutory retirement allowance to the plaintiff et al., the remaining period of the plaintiff et al.

B. The part demanding the payment of honorary retirement allowances under the labor-management agreement dated September 18, 2003

(1) Plaintiff et al.’s assertion

The plaintiff et al. revised the remuneration provision, which is a subordinate norm to the labor-management agreement of September 18, 2003, illegally against the principle of special retirement allowance payment. Accordingly, the defendant company's retirement allowance payment date of September 30, 2003 also applies to the plaintiff et al..... Thus, although the changed honorary retirement allowance payment standard should be applied to the plaintiff et al. under the labor-management agreement of September 30, 2003, the defendant company newly established Article 3 (1) of the Addenda to the above labor-management agreement of the defendant company's remuneration provision, which provides that the changed honorary retirement allowance payment standard shall be applied only to the person who voluntarily retires in October, 203, and thus, it is against the principle of equal retirement allowance payment standard of the plaintiff et al. to the plaintiff et al. who retired on September 30, 2003, and thus, it is against the principle of equal retirement allowance payment of the plaintiff et al.

(2) Determination

3. The retirement procedure of the above company’s company’s 20th quarter or 2/4th quarter of the year of voluntary retirement is to be established. According to the evidence and factual basis as seen earlier, the company has no other evidence to acknowledge that it is obligated to pay the above monthly retirement allowances to the Plaintiff, etc. The company has to carry out the voluntary retirement for 20 years or longer, and the company has applied for the voluntary retirement for 3, 6, 9, or 4 times every quarter of the year after receiving an application for the voluntary retirement of the company’s 3, 387 employees including the Plaintiff, etc. among those subject to the voluntary retirement. The company ordered 1/4th quarter or 2/4 of the year of voluntary retirement to provide the aforementioned voluntary retirement for 10 years or more, and the company ordered 20 years or more to provide the aforementioned voluntary retirement for 30 months or more, and the company ordered 1/6 months or more of the aforementioned voluntary retirement to provide the voluntary retirement for 30 months or more of the previous voluntary retirement.

In light of the above circumstances, the special honorary retirement and desired retirement under the labor-management agreement as of September 18, 2003 is entirely separate retirement procedures in light of the background, scale, and procedure of retirement, etc. of the above special voluntary retirement and desired retirement conducted each quarter like the plaintiff et al. Therefore, the above labor-management agreement just because the special voluntary retirement and desired retirement in September 200 is implemented in the above labor-management agreement cannot be viewed as naturally affecting the plaintiff et al. who is not related to the special voluntary retirement and desired retirement under the above labor-management agreement. Further, in light of Article 34(3) of the personnel management regulations of the defendant company and the above labor-management agreement, the standard and procedure of special voluntary retirement and desired retirement are determined by the defendant company, and the above special retirement and desired retirement should not be determined separately for the above special retirement and desired retirement of the plaintiff company to violate the labor-management agreement as of October 1, 2003, it cannot be concluded that the above special retirement and desired retirement of the plaintiff company did not violate the above labor-management agreement.

4. Conclusion

Therefore, each claim of the plaintiffs in this case is without merit, and it is so decided as per Disposition.

[Attachment List of Appointed]

Judge Shin Young-young (Presiding Judge)