A recent ruling by the Seoul Eastern District Court has established that freelance drivers for the ride-hailing service Tada are considered employees under South Korea's labor laws, resulting in a directive for their employer, Socar, to pay them 1.4 billion won in unpaid suspension allowances. This landmark decision marks the first instance where the court has issued a ruling regarding unpaid wages related to Tada drivers, acknowledging their worker status and thus their rights to compensation during non-working periods. Similar rulings had occurred in 2024 and 2025, but none had specifically mandated payment of owed wages until now.

The presiding judge emphasized that even though Tada drivers entered into freelance contracts through cooperating firms, their actual workflow and oversight were solely managed by Socar. Evidence such as enforced training guides, strict dress codes, and performance evaluations was presented to establish a significant dependency relationship between the company and the drivers. Furthermore, the court highlighted that the work performed by freelance drivers was virtually indistinguishable from those classified as Socar dispatched drivers, thereby affirming their employee status.

In addressing the termination of Tada's basic service in April 2020, the court ruled that this action could not be interpreted as the complete cessation of business operations, implying that the driver-employer relationship was not automatically dissolved. Consequently, the court ruled that Socar must provide suspension allowances equivalent to 70% of the average wages for the duration when drivers were unable to work due to circumstances attributable to Socar. The decision has been hailed as a significant breakthrough for platform workers, emphasizing that fundamental labor law principles must apply in digital platform environments, and underscoring the responsibilities of technology companies in their treatment of workers.