주식보상의 유형과 노동법적 쟁점에 관한 연구 —임금 관련 논의를 중심으로—

Recently, stock compensation, where companies provide their own shares to employees as a means of boosting morale, have been increasingly adopted. In the past, stock options were predominant, but now RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) have become the prevailing choice. This paper examines the background of the expansion of stock compensation schemes, the various types of stock compensation, and the details of these schemes. Based on this analysis, the paper identifies that stock compensation schemes can raise various issues across multiple legal domains, including corporate law, capital markets law, financial law, tax law, and labor law, highlighting the need for legislative revisions. The core focus of this paper is on the labor law-related issues arising from stock compensation. The labor law issues associated with stock compensation primarily include the characterization of stock compensation as wages, its reconciliation with the principle of payment in currency, limitations on the scale of compen- sation, whether and how it should be included in the calculation of average wages, and the timing of income tax imposition on such compensation. There has not yet been a general examination of whether certain types of stock compensation qualify as wages. However, regarding the wage nature of stock options, most opinions tend to reject this characterization. Nevertheless, in the current context where stock compensation methods like RSU is becoming widespread, it seems necessary to acknowledge the wage nature of stock compensation that is granted continuously and regularly, thereby providing active protection for workers. To recognize stock compen- sation as wage, it must be granted not as a one-time payment but on a continuous basis, must be obligatory rather than discretionary on the part of the company, and most importantly, must be in exchange for labor. If stock compensation is recognized as wages, several labor law issues arise. First, there is the potential violation of the principle of payment in currency, one of the wage payment principles under the Labor Standards Act. Since substituting wages with stock is a form of payment in kind, paying wages in stocks without legal or collective agreement grounds would violate Article 43(1) of the Labor Standards Act. To promote the activation of stock compensation schemes, it would be necessary to revise the exceptions to the principle of payment in currency. A reasonable approach could be to allow individual agreements between the parties or to grant employees the option to choose stock compensation. Furthermore, if stock compensation is recognized as wages, it raises the issue of how much of the total wage can be composed of stock compen- sation. Article 47 of the Labor Standards Act stipulates that "For workers employed under a piece-rate or other similar system, a fixed amount of wages shall be guaranteed in proportion to working hours." Although the implementation of stock compensation schemes may not directly fall under the purview of Article 47 of the Labor Standards Act, the intent of this provision, which is to protect workers from the threat of reduced living standards due to wage reductions, could be referenced when setting limits on stock compensation schemes. If stock compensation is recognized as a wage payment method, it must also be determined whether it should be included in the calculation of average wages. If stock compensation is considered wages, it seems appropriate to include the value of the stock at the time of grant in the calculation of average wages. However, further discussions will be necessary regarding various cases to determine the inclusion and calculation methods for average wages.