Small business owners expressed deep regret regarding the failure of the differentiated application of next year's minimum wage, stating it is a decision that ignores the crisis of small businesses.
The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) noted on the 20th that the differentiated application of next year's minimum wage was rejected during the 6th plenary meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission. Small business owners particularly emphasized, "Differentiated application of the minimum wage is not about discrimination, but is a matter directly related to the survival of small businesses and a desperate plea to protect jobs," and expressed regret that their minimum request to differentiate, even for just the restaurant industry among numerous struggling small business sectors, was ignored.
Small business owners continued, "We can only raise fundamental questions about the Minimum Wage Committee and even the minimum wage system itself, which once again neglected the clear legal basis in Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the Minimum Wage Act stating that 'minimum wage may be applied differently according to the type of business.'"
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises also issued a statement on the 19th, expressing deep disappointment that the proposal to differentiate for the restaurant industry was ultimately rejected.
User committee members in the small and medium enterprise sector have claimed that differentiated application is necessary for industries with significantly low minimum wage acceptance, such as taxi transportation and chain convenience stores, but ultimately proposed differentiation only for the restaurant industry due to concerns from public and worker committee members.
They added, "Since it has become impossible to apply differentiated rates by type of business next year, the minimum wage for next year should reflect the management realities of the most struggling industries that cannot bear the current minimum wage level."