hankyoreh

A person identified as Lee who was employed as a software salesman in Seoul received a dismissal notice via e-mail from his company at the end of last year, just four months after he got the job. The company did not give any reason for his dismissal, so Lee submitted a petition to the Seoul District Labor Relations Commission for unfair dismissal.

The commission ruled in February that dismissing someone via e-mail cannot be considered written notice, the commission said on April 21. The commission also ruled Lee’s dismissal invalid because the company did not give any reasons for its decision.

The company cited Lee’s poor performance and lack of harmony with his coworkers as reasons for the dismissal, but the commission decided that these were not acceptable, saying that the company had dismissed Lee unfairly and violated proper procedure.

Through a revised provision of the Labor Standard Law, which took effect in July, companies are required to give written notice regarding the reasons for, and timing of, a dismissal, but there still are employees like Lee who are being fired unfairly.

An official from the commission said, “There are some small companies giving indirect dismissal notices via telephone, mobile phone text messages and e-mails.”

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]