Open Decision Ledger · Civil obligations & remedies
Scope of set-off for sick-leave and disability pay, and overlapping appraisals
Supreme Court, June 25, 2020, 2020Da216240 (judgment)
Case name: 손해배상(산)
Official text on the National Law Information Center
Question
In a tort damages award, from what damages may sick-leave pay and disability benefit already received under the Labour Standards Act or the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act be deducted, and what must a court examine when the rate of loss of earning capacity rests on body appraisals commissioned in several medical specialties?
Holding
The two sums may be deducted only where the benefit and the loss are of the same nature and complement each other. A payment exceeding the negative damages found by the court may not be taken from damages of a different period or nature, and sick-leave pay may be deducted only from the loss corresponding to lost income during the period for which it was paid. Where the rate of loss of earning capacity rests on appraisals from several specialties, the court must look closely at whether they overlap or leave gaps and must correct any overlap through the necessary inquiry.
Summary of the holding, verbatim
손해배상은 손해의 전보를 목적으로 하는 것이므로 피해자로 하여금 근로기준법이나 산업재해보상보험법에 따라 휴업급여나 장해급여 등을 이미 지급받은 경우에 그 급여액을 일실수입의 배상액에서 공제하는 것은 그 손해의 성질이 동일하여 상호보완적 관계에 있는 것 사이에서만 가능하다.
Unofficial English translation
Since damages are intended to compensate for a loss, where a victim has already received leave-of-absence benefits or disability benefits, etc. under the Labor Standards Act or the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, deducting the amount of such benefits from the amount of indemnification for lost earnings is possible only between losses that are identical in nature and stand in a mutually complementary relationship.
Disposition
Reversed and remanded Stated in the decision
원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 수원지방법원에 환송한다.
Unofficial English translation
The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Suwon District Court.
Form of the test
Elements stated Stated in the decision
휴업급여는 휴업기간 중의 일실수입에 대응하는 것이므로 그것이 지급된 휴업기간 중의 일실수입 상당의 손해액에서만 공제되어야 한다.
Unofficial English translation
Since a leave-of-absence benefit corresponds to lost earnings during the period of leave, it must be deducted only from the amount of damages corresponding to lost earnings during the period of leave for which it was paid.
Factors
- 그 손해의 성질이 동일하여 상호보완적 관계에 있는 것 사이에서만 가능하다
- 법원에서 인정된 소극적 손해액을 초과하더라도 그 초과부분을 기간과 성질을 달리하는 손해배상액에서 공제할 것은 아니며
- 복수의 감정 과목에 대한 신체감정촉탁 결과에는 감정의 중복·누락이 있을 수 있으므로
- 모두 갑이 입은 두부손상으로 인한 인지기능장애, 인격장애 등의 정신장해를 대상으로 한 감정으로 보이는 점 등 제반 사정에 비추어 보면
- 위 신체감정이 중복감정일 여지가 있어 감정보완이나 추가 사실조회 등을 통해
Unofficial English translation
• it is possible only between losses that are identical in nature and stand in a mutually complementary relationship
• even if it exceeds the amount of negative losses recognized by the court, the excess portion shall not be deducted from the amount of damages that differs in period and nature, and
• because the results of physical examinations commissioned for multiple fields of expert examination may involve duplication or omission of the expert examinations,
• in light of all circumstances, such as the fact that all of them appear to be examinations targeting mental disabilities such as cognitive impairment and personality disorder caused by the brain injury that A suffered, and the like,
• there is a possibility that the above physical examinations are duplicative examinations, and through supplementation of the examinations or additional fact-finding, etc.
Relation to precedent
Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision
대법원 1991. 7. 23. 선고 90다11776 판결
Unofficial English translation
Supreme Court Decision 90Da11776 decided July 23, 1991
Decisions referred to
[1] 대법원 1991. 7. 23. 선고 90다11776 판결(공1991, 2218), 대법원 1995. 4. 25. 선고 93다61703 판결(공1995상, 1936), 대법원 2012. 6. 14. 선고 2010다77293 판결 / [2] 대법원 2004. 6. 11. 선고 2004다17672 판결
Burden of proof
Not addressed Not in the decision
Open question and revisit condition
Once an appraisal is found to overlap another, how is the appropriate rate of loss of earning capacity to be recalculated?
The remand judgment of the Suwon District Court in the same case (2019Na60103), once it identifies the lost income of the sick-leave period and re-fixes the rate of loss of earning capacity, will show how both rules were applied here. A later decision altering the set-off of industrial accident compensation benefits against tort damages would require this entry to be read again.
Cross-family AI independent reading & axis check
7 of 8 axes matched GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI, codex CLI) · 2026-10-25
A reader from another model family (GPT-6 Astra), given the official text but not the primary reading, agreed on 7 of the 8 axes; the readings differed on axis 4 (form of the test).
Axis 4 (Form of the test): Primary “Elements stated” vs Independent “Existing test applied”
Both readings record that the judgment does not address burden of proof, so the flagged difference may arise because the court's duty to inquire into and correct overlapping appraisals could be read as a quasi-burden on the court rather than on a party.
위 신체감정이 중복감정일 여지가 있어 감정보완이나 추가 사실조회 등을 통해 감정이 중복되는지 세심히 살핀 다음, 중복이 있는 경우 이를 바로잡아 적정한 노동능력상실률을 인정하였어야Raw responses and comparison record: Protocol · Blind readings (JSONL) · Axis comparison (JSONL) · SHA-256 (JSON)
Lower-court contrast & scope of application
Lower-court reading vs. Supreme Court holding
Lower-court context: The Suwon District Court, in its judgment of 5 February 2020 (2019Na60103), fixed the first plaintiff's loss at KRW 311,187,895 for lost income, KRW 14,068,880 for treatment already received and KRW 27,679,616 for future treatment, a total of KRW 352,936,391. It set the plaintiff's share of fault at 40%, leaving KRW 211,761,834 to be paid, and deducted from that sum in full the KRW 126,887,500 sick-leave pay and the KRW 68,153,050 disability benefit paid by the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service. It also refused the defendant's claim that the neurosurgery, psychiatry and neurology appraisals overlapped, and found the rate of loss of earning capacity by the combined-disability-rate formula.
Supreme Court standard: The Supreme Court held that the court below had misapplied the law on deducting sick-leave pay and disability benefit and had left necessary inquiry undone, because it deducted the full sums from the whole award including positive damages without identifying the lost income of the period for which sick-leave pay was paid. On the appraisals, it noted that the three appraisals appear to concern the mental disability arising from the first plaintiff's head injury rather than different parts of the body, and that the reply to the additional fact-finding gave no concrete explanation and even covered the neurosurgery and psychiatry appraisals. The court below should have examined overlap through a supplementary appraisal or further fact-finding instead of accepting that reply. It found no error in the rulings on the principal's liability under Article 757 of the Civil Act or on limitation, and reversed the whole judgment and remanded the case to the Suwon District Court on the unanimous opinion of the participating Justices.
Distinguishing conditions
- Sick-leave pay deducted from the loss corresponding to lost income during the very period for which it was paid, where the period has been established and the two are of the same nature.
- Appraisals aimed at disabilities of different parts of the body, since the Court relied on these three appearing to concern one mental disability arising from the head injury rather than different parts of the body.
- A reply to fact-finding that gives concrete reasons for the absence of overlap and addresses each appraisal the court relies on.
Record verification notes
Set out the periods for which sick-leave pay was paid and match them against the lost income the court found for those same periods, then treat any excess separately from damages of a different period or nature. Collect the three appraisal reports and check whether each measures a distinct impairment or the same mental disability arising from the head injury, and test the fact-finding reply for concrete reasons and for the scope of the specialists who gave it.
From the official text
Points at issue
[1] 피해자가 근로기준법이나 산업재해보상보험법에 따라 휴업급여나 장해급여 등을 이미 지급받은 경우, 그 급여액 중 손해배상액 산정에서 공제할 수 있는 금액의 범위 [2] 복수의 감정 과목에 대한 신체감정촉탁 결과에 따라 노동능력상실률을 평가하는 경우, 주의하여야 할 사항 [3] 갑이 을에게 고용되어 을이 병 주식회사로부터 하도급을 받은 공사를 수행하던 중 머리 부분을 크게 다치는 사고가 발생하자, 갑과 그의 배우자 정이 병 회사를 상대로 민법 제757조에 따른 손해배상을 구하였는데, 갑의 노동능력상실률을 평가하기 위하여 복수의 감정 과목에 대한 신체감정이 이루어진 사안에서, 제반 사정상 위 각 신체감정이 중복감정일 여지가 있음에도 감정보완이나 추가 사실조회 등에 나아가지 아니한 채 위 각 감정이 중복감정이 아니라는 전제하에 중복장해율로 노동능력상실률을 인정한 원심판단에는 심리미진 등 잘못이 있다고 한 사례
Unofficial English translation
[1] Where a victim has already received leave-of-absence benefits or disability benefits, etc. under the Labor Standards Act or the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, the scope of the amount of such benefits that may be deducted in calculating the amount of damages [2] Matters requiring caution when assessing the rate of loss of earning capacity based on the results of physical examinations commissioned for multiple fields of expert examination [3] A case in which, while A, employed by B, was performing construction work that B had received as a subcontract from C Co., Ltd., an accident occurred in which A sustained a serious injury to the head, A and his spouse Jeong sought damages from Company C under Article 757 of the Civil Act, and where, in a case in which physical examinations for multiple fields of expert examination were conducted in order to assess A's rate of loss of earning capacity, the determination of the court below, which recognized the rate of loss of earning capacity by applying the combined disability rate on the premise that the respective physical examinations were not duplicative examinations, without proceeding to supplement the examinations or conduct additional fact-finding, etc., despite the possibility, in light of all circumstances, that the respective physical examinations might be duplicative examinations, is erroneous for failure to exhaust deliberations, etc.
Summary of the holding
[1] 손해배상은 손해의 전보를 목적으로 하는 것이므로 피해자로 하여금 근로기준법이나 산업재해보상보험법에 따라 휴업급여나 장해급여 등을 이미 지급받은 경우에 그 급여액을 일실수입의 배상액에서 공제하는 것은 그 손해의 성질이 동일하여 상호보완적 관계에 있는 것 사이에서만 가능하다. 따라서 피해자가 수령한 휴업급여금이나 장해급여금이 법원에서 인정된 소극적 손해액을 초과하더라도 그 초과부분을 기간과 성질을 달리하는 손해배상액에서 공제할 것은 아니며, 휴업급여는 휴업기간 중의 일실수입에 대응하는 것이므로 그것이 지급된 휴업기간 중의 일실수입 상당의 손해액에서만 공제되어야 한다. [2] 복수의 감정 과목에 대한 신체감정촉탁 결과에는 감정의 중복·누락이 있을 수 있으므로, 신체감정촉탁 결과에 의하여 노동능력상실률을 평가하는 법원으로서는 감정이 중복·누락되었는지 여부를 세심히 살펴야 하고, 중복·누락이 있는 경우에는 필요한 심리를 통하여 이를 바로잡아야 한다. [3] 갑이 을에게 고용되어 을이 병 주식회사로부터 하도급을 받은 공사를 수행하던 중 머리 부분을 크게 다치는 사고가 발생하자, 갑과 그의 배우자 정이 병 회사를 상대로 민법 제757조에 따른 손해배상을 구하였는데, 갑의 노동능력상실률을 평가하기 위하여 복수의 감정 과목에 대한 신체감정이 이루어진 사안에서, 갑의 후유장해로 신경외과의 신체감정서는 ‘두통 및 기억력 장애’를, 정신건강의학과의 신체감정서는 ‘기억력 저하, 실행기능 저하 등의 인지기능장애’를, 신경과의 신체감정서는 ‘무의욕, 실행기능 저하, 성격변화 등’을 들고 있는데, 이는 사고로 갑에게 생긴 상이한 신체부위의 장해에 대한 감정이 아니라, 모두 갑이 입은 두부손상으로 인한 인지기능장애, 인격장애 등의 정신장해를 대상으로 한 감정으로 보이는 점 등 제반 사정에 비추어 보면, 위 신체감정이 중복감정일 여지가 있어 감정보완이나 추가 사실조회 등을 통해 감정이 중복되는지 세심히 살핀 다음, 중복이 있는 경우 이를 바로잡아 적정한 노동능력상실률을 인정하였어야 하는데도, 이에 이르지 않은 채 위 감정이 중복감정이 아니라는 전제하에 중복장해율로 노동능력상실률을 인정한 원심판단에는 심리미진 등 잘못이 있다고 한 사례.
Order
원심판결을 파기하고, 사건을 수원지방법원에 환송한다.
Unofficial English translation
The judgment of the court below is reversed, and the case is remanded to the Suwon District Court.
Provisions referred to
[1] 민법 제393조, 제757조, 제763조, 산업재해보상보험법 제52조, 제57조 [2] 민법 제393조, 제757조, 제763조, 민사소송법 제341조 [3] 민법 제393조, 제757조, 제763조, 민사소송법 제341조
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