EJE LAW successfully represented its client in a series of civil and criminal cases concerning whether the company's common leave day policy constituted a violation of the Labor Standards Act. The firm secured a dismissal of the appeal by the Supreme Court (following the dismissal of the quasi-appeal against the prosecutor’s decision) and obtained a favorable judgment in a wage claim lawsuit, both confirming the legality of the company’s policy under current law.The central issue in the case was whether the company’s practice of designating certain workdays—such as those falling between summer heatwaves or “sandwiched” public holidays—as common leave days, and encouraging employees to use their annual paid leave on such days, constituted a de facto substitution of paid leave without the required written agreement with the employee representative, as set forth under Article 62 of the Labor Standards Act, thereby infringing employees’ right to apply for annual leave.

EJE LAW argued that the company’s designation of common leave days during the peak summer season and “sandwiched” holidays was intended to encourage employees to use their annual leave and to enhance employee welfare. The firm further asserted that employees were free to choose whether to work or take annual leave on those days, and that even if the company omitted the formal process of submitting individual leave applications, the time off taken on common leave days could still be considered as annual leave taken at the employee’s request pursuant to Article 60(5) of the Labor Standards Act. These arguments were accepted by both the prosecutors and the courts.

This case is significant in confirming that a company may operate a common leave day policy as a way of encouraging employees to use their annual paid leave, and that such practice is distinct from the substituted paid leave system under the Labor Standards Act.