선원근로계약의 갱신기대권에 관한 고찰

Abstract

Since the introduction of the ｢Ship Management Industry Development Act｣, the employment of seafarers has become more flexible, and the current seafarer employment agreement has been settled in the form of repetition and re-signing of fixed-term employment agreements. In this situation, seafarers are also classified as exceptional occupations under the ｢Act on the Protection of Temporary and Part-time Workers｣, raising the need to recognize the right to renew seafarers' employment agreements to stabilize the employment of seafarers. The precedent recognizes the justification for pursuing the management interests of shipowners for the fact that crew work contracts are employment agreements with a fixed period of time, and most of them are concluded in the form of crew periods. At the same time, even if the crew employment agreement is concluded and terminated, and re-signed after a certain period of time after the crew's unemployment, it is considered to be the basis for acknowledging the right to expect renewal if this has been repeated several times. It has also been judged that due to the nature of the crew's job, the right to wait for renewal is recognized after the retirement age has passed. However, the crew's right to expect renewal is not guaranteed by stipulating the contents in collective agreements, employment rules, or employment agreements, but it is recognized based on the fact that the conclusion, termination, and renewal of employment agreements have been repeated. This is a situation in which the crew must prove that they have a legitimate right to expect renewal on their own and seek judgment from the court, which is the cause of the burden of a lot of time and money. In addition, even if the crew's right to renew is granted, the suitability and objectivity of the crew's work evaluation standards may be problematic in terms of renewal requirements, and there are limitations such as ambiguous ways for the crew to respond to the refusal of renewal due to management reasons, and there may be room for justification of the refusal of renewal due to individual health problems or trust relationships between ship owners or crew members. Therefore, this study proposed a plan to agree on the renewal requirements of the crew employment agreement through the conclusion of a collective agreement and to introduce a crew labor council as a way to guarantee the crew's right to renew and stabilize employment. The renewal rate of the crew employment agreement, the reason for refusal of renewal, an agreement on the renewal rate in case of management difficulties, the procedure for raising objections to the refusal of renewal, and the timing of the renewal procedure can be determined as the contents of the collective agreement. From the perspective of seafarers, it is believed that the establishment of a employment agreement renewal procedure through collective agreements can relieve employment insecurity to some extent, and from the perspective of shipowners, the effect of continuous supply and demand of seafarers and prevention of departure can be seen.