통상임금의 본질개념으로서의‘통상성’

This article essentially seeks to understand the concept of the standard wage based on the Supreme Court ruling of the standard wage,as well as examining the conceptualization of the word 'standard. The following is my viewpoint on this issue. First, the term 'standardwage' already contains the normative content of the concept, hence does not need to be defined in accordance with the Labor Standard Act. However, because the term itself is an abstract one, it is necessary to clarify the institutional purpose and function of standard wages, including the nature of its application in order to minimize confusion.I define the concept of a standard wage as 'the standard cost for standard work'. Specific elements of the concept include what standard work comprises of, standard working hours, the standard cost of work, and through what standard the typical wage is determined. Second, the 'standard wage' must be determined according to the worker's ability to fulfillhis/her contracted business. Thus while the worker might be allocated a salary for completing additional duties separate from their normal work, this cannot be recognised as part of the standard wage. The claim that additional hours are already included in the standard wage is unjust because overtime work is not equivalent to the worker's appointed duties and the rate for overtime work is unspecified. Third, the concept of the wage is unnecessary in explaining the conceptual relevance of the standard wage. Also, the periodicity of receiving the wage is merely for the worker's calculation to keep track of their progress, and is not equivalent to the quality of their work. Similarly, the pay period is normally not limited to a month. Fourth, the Supreme Court's ruling of determining the 'fairness'when distributing wages to be based on several 'fixed conditions', is misleading as it can be mistakenly understood that 'fairness' is conceded merely if such 'conditions' have been fulfilled. Fair distribution of wages must hence be determined by the 'quality of work'that the worker performs. Fifth, the Supreme Court too easily accepts the variability of the parties set wages and thus the range in which the fixed wage is calculated is too narrow. The fixed wage must be contextualized through the conceptual understanding of the term 'standard'. Moreover, the pay criteria include the 'value for standard work' however, we should concede the average wage if the worker agrees to all of this criteria.