1. Notification of the minimum wage for 2015
The Ministry of Employment & Labor (MOEL) announced on 8 August that the minimum wage will increase to KRW 5,580 per hour starting 1 January 2015.
* KRW 44,640 a day (working for 8 hours) and KRW 1,166,220 a month (40 hours working a week or 209 hours a month)
[Table 1] Minimum Wages for the Past 3 Years
|
Year
|
Minimum Wage
|
Increase over
Previous Year
|
|
2012
|
KRW 4,580
|
6.0%
|
|
2013
|
KRW 4,860
|
6.1%
|
|
2014
|
KRW 5,210
|
7.2%
|
|
2015
|
KRW 5,580
|
7.1%
|
The MOEL is expected to strengthen labor inspections in the second half of the year in the areas of working conditions such as minimum wage, written labor contracts, and delay in payment of wages. Towards this end, the MOEL is planning to conduct intensive labor inspections of restaurants, the wholesale & retail industries, and the construction industry from 11 to 30 September. The MOEL also seems determined to push forward an amendment for stronger penalties for violations of minimum wage and delayed wage payment during the regular session of the National Assembly.
[Table 2] The MOEL Announcement of Legislation of the Labor Standards Act and the Minimum Wage Act Revisions
|
Act
|
Details of the Revised Bill
|
|
Labor Standards Act (Notice on 14 July)
|
∆ Provide additional money to workers equal to the amount of overdue wages in cases of deliberate/habitual wage delays.
∆ Prepare legal bases of exposing employers failing to pay overdue wages.
∆ Prepare legal bases for gathering information to prevent delays in the payment of wages.
|
|
Minimum Wage Act
(Notice on 14 July)
|
∆ Introduce progressive penalties for violation of minimum wage.
– Immediate imposition of fines for violation of minimum wage ” mitigation of fines up to 50% if corrected ” legal punishment if same recurs within 2 years.
∆ Protect simple laborers not to become a target of reduced application of minimum wage
|
2. Labor inspections to be strengthened on occupational safety, non-regular workers, and in-house subcontract workers
The government plans to conduct inspections on employment/labor policies such as workplace safety & health and expansion of time-selective work. Due to the increase in labor inspections, companies are expected to face management difficulties.
[Table 3] Major Employment and Labor Policies in the Second Half of 2014
|
∆ Promote a roadmap to achieve a 70% employment rate; establish and focus on employment practices by specific targets
∆ Improve working conditions and employment stability for low-income groups
∆ Improve wages and working hours
∆ Create safe and healthy workplaces
∆ Restore the Tripartite Commission dialogue
|
The government’s policy is to increase safety supervision of high-risk workplaces such as the construction/chemical industries, as well as subcontractors and SMEs. In particular, the government is planning to prepare pan-government and inter-agency joint investigations (from August to the end of October) of actual conditions in workplaces which possess aged chemical facilities in areas of major concern for industrial accidents, such as Ulsan∙Yeosu. A total of 495 companies* with chemical facilities that are more than 30 years old will be investigated two times each by the end of October. Workplaces where chemical substance leakage accidents have occurred recently will be included in the investigation.
* 495 companies include workplaces in the national industrial complex, workplaces with recent chemical accidents, and workplaces operating dangerous facilities and/or handling deadly toxic substances.
The government also wants to conduct intense labor inspections in order to improve employment stability and working conditions for non-regular workers and subcontract workers. The inspections will be conducted targeting 4,000 companies such as gas stations, fast-food franchises, and small- & medium-sized construction companies. The government seems to focus on protection guidelines concerning the working conditions of in-house subcontract workers in 30 workplaces within the financial and health industries, where a high proportion of in-house subcontract workers are employed.