The Minimum Wage Commission (MWC) held its second plenary meeting on the afternoon of the 27th at the Government Sejong Center to discuss the minimum wage to be applied next year.
This meeting took place about a month after the first plenary meeting on Apr. 22. The labor sector and the management sector have not yet decided on their initial demands for the minimum wage.
Before the meeting, the management sector argued that the minimum wage should be applied differently based on industry. In contrast, the labor sector opposed this claim and insisted that the application of the minimum wage should be expanded to include contracted workers.
The management sector's position is that the minimum wage should be applied differently to industries such as the restaurant and accommodation sectors. This is because some of the self-employed in these industries earn less than the employees they hire.
Ryu Ki-jung, Executive Vice President of the Korea Enterprises Federation, noted, "According to a survey of 1,000 small business owners conducted by the Korea Federation of Small Business in April, the average monthly operating profit of small business owners this year is 2,088,000 won, which does not even reach the monthly conversion amount for minimum wage workers (2,096,000 won) based on a 40-hour work week."
Lee Myeong-ro, Head of the Policy Division at KBIZ, stated, "We need to create conditions that small business owners in critical situations can comply with through differentiated application of the minimum wage by industry," adding, "For vulnerable sectors, it is a realistic plan to apply the minimum wage differently to reduce labor cost burdens."
The labor sector stated that it cannot accept the management sector's demand for differentiated application. Ryu Gi-seop, Secretary General of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, said, "Differentiated application of the minimum wage by industry and region amounts to nothing more than branding low wages in each sector and region."
The labor sector also argued that the Minimum Wage Act should apply to special employment and platform workers. Currently, these workers, who perform delivery tasks, are not recognized as workers under the Labor Standards Act due to their irregular working hours, hence they are not subject to the Minimum Wage Act.
Lee Ji-sun, Deputy Chair of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, stated, "Many countries overseas apply the minimum wage to special and platform workers," and added, "Yesterday, we submitted to the Ministry of Employment a petition regarding violations of the minimum wage concerning special and platform workers who currently earn only 8,220 won per hour."
The MWC is scheduled to hold its third plenary meeting on the 29th. The deliberation on this year's minimum wage must be completed by Jun. 29. However, since the implementation of the minimum wage system in 1988, only 9 times has the decision been made within the 90-day deadline.