소정근로시간과 관련된 최근의 판례상 쟁점들

The concept of prescribed working hours has recently become the subject of significant legal controversy. In the taxi industry, disputes have arisen over whether agreements between labor and management—designed to formally reduce prescribed working hours without reducing actual working hours—are valid attempts to circumvent the Minimum Wage Act. Furthermore, various labor and social security laws exclude short-time workers whose prescribed hours are under 15 hours per week, contributing to a recent increase in this workforce category. This raises questions about how to determine legal applicability when working hours are ambiguously defined. Additionally, the presence or absence of fixed working hours has emerged as a critical factor in determining worker status, particularly in cases involving on-call contractors and the legal restriction of working hours. This article investigates the essential nature of prescribed working hours, proposing that they represent the expected "amount of work" required under the employment contract, expressed in hours. It further examines how this concept operates within the legal system and explores the criteria by which prescribed working hours should be determined—emphasizing that they must reflect actual, routine work duties. Finally, based on recent case law, the article proposes interpretative and legislative reforms to address ongoing disputes regarding prescribed working hours.