Deals & Cases
DR & AJU Successfully Represents “Agents”, Who Perform Accident Rescue Service According to Accident Rescue Service Agency Contract, in Being Recognized Their Legal Status as Employees
The “agents” in this case are those who entered into an agency contract on accident rescue service with a company specializing in damage assessment related to auto insurance (“Company A”), provided accident rescue service accordingly. The Agents filed a claim against Company A for severance pay after they left the company.
DR & AJU argued that the accident rescue service agents should be deemed as the workers in subordinate relationship who provide labor to Company A for wages on the following grounds: (i) Company A has set the duties of agents under its accident rescue guidebook and frequently gave directions and supervised the agents through a messenger application. Company A also announced that any violation of directions will lead to disadvantages for the agents, including a reduction in work territory and termination of the agency contract. Company A has a history of actually demanding violators to take corrective measures; (ii) Company A evaluated agents based on their responsiveness to rescue calls and their compliance with directions and supervision from the company and paid the agents based on such evaluation, which limited the agents’ freedom to choose when to be on standby for a call; and (iii) It was difficult to deem that the work schedule was prepared irrelevant to the request of their supervisor in charge of the relevant work territory, and in principle, agents were expected to be on standby for a call according to the work schedule.
The competent court acknowledged DR & AJU’s claim and found that the agents are deemed as workers in subordinate relationship in which they offer labor to Company A for wages. This case marks the first case where the legal status of workers offering accident rescue service has been officially recognized.