A collective agreement is an agreement regulating conditions to be observed in employment contracts or otherwise in employment relations, concluded by a single employer or employers" association on one side, and trade union on the other side. Art. 33(Validity of Terms and Conditions) of ?Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act?(TULRAA): “Part of the rules of employment or contract of employment which violates the standards concerning working conditions and other treatment of workers specified in collective agreement shall be null and void(§33 ①)”, and “Matters which are not stipulated by a contract of employment, and what has been invalidated by paragraph (1), shall be governed by the terms and conditions of collective agreement(§33 ②).”
‘Favorability principle(Gunstigkeitsprinzip)’ means that the norms which lay down the most favorable working conditions must be applied ahead of the others although they are subcategories when the norms of decision on labor relations coexist and lay down working conditions differently. This paper reviews for supporting the content of the favorability principle from analyzing what TULRAA §33 means. Especially studying comparative law research, this paper focuses on the reality of our national situation in which the favorability principle is not legal norms and whether the favorability principle can be recognized as the application principle that has mandatory effect or it is nothing but interpretative principles.
The favorability principle cannot be applied between a collective agreements and other sources of law(rule of employment and contract of employment).
In conclusion, this paper studies a relationship between employment contract and collective agreement and between collective agreement and rules of employment etc. more based on research on the favorability principle. Collective agreement gains ascendancy over employment contract and rules of employment in particular.