Minimum Wage Commission Begins Discussions on Expanding Coverage to Contract Workers...Labor and Management at Odds

The Minimum Wage Commission has officially begun discussions on expanding the application of the minimum wage to contract workers, including specially employed and platform workers. However, labor and management are at odds over the scope of application and legal authority.

On June 4, the Minimum Wage Commission held its third plenary session at the Government Complex Sejong and discussed ways to expand minimum wage coverage to contract workers. This review was based on the findings of a fact-finding survey conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor last year. Contract workers are defined as those who are paid based on work performance or results rather than working hours. This category typically includes specially employed and platform workers, such as delivery riders, courier drivers, and substitute drivers.

On the 4th, the third plenary meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission was held at the Government Complex Sejong. This meeting will discuss whether the minimum wage should apply to contract workers such as delivery couriers and riders. Yonhap News

The labor sector argued that the range of minimum wage protection should be expanded to include platform and freelance workers, reflecting the realities of the changing labor market. Ryu Kisub, Secretary General of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), stated, "Ensuring minimum wage coverage for contract, specially employed, and platform workers is not an exceptional privilege, but rather a way to restore the original purpose of the minimum wage system," adding, "It is time to come up with an answer to protect contract workers."

Lee Miseon, Vice Chairperson of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), also emphasized, "Guaranteeing the minimum wage for the 8.7 million specially employed and platform workers is an urgent task of our time," and added, "The Minimum Wage Commission must act so that workers no longer have to repeatedly go to court to prove their status as workers."

On the other hand, the business sector drew a clear line, arguing that under current law, the minimum wage only applies to workers covered by the Labor Standards Act and that it is not within the purview of the Minimum Wage Commission to decide this matter.

Ryu Kijeong, Executive Director of the Korea Employers Federation, stated, "The minimum wage is a system applied to workers under the Labor Standards Act," and added, "It is necessary to first determine whether those under discussion qualify as workers, but this is not an area for the Minimum Wage Commission to decide." He further argued, "Even among contract workers, contract conditions, work methods, and working hours all vary, so it is virtually impossible to set a separate minimum wage that reflects factors like workload, distance traveled, and time spent."

On the 4th, Chairman Kwon Soonwon and committee members saluted the national flag at the 3rd plenary meeting held at the Minimum Wage Commission in the Government Complex Sejong. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Yang Okseok, a user representative, also expressed concerns, saying, "There is no accumulated objective data on what decision-making units are needed for each contract type or on the impact such measures would have on the labor market and consumer welfare," and warned, "Excessive application could undermine the flexibility of contract work and lead to job losses."

The public interest representatives emphasized the need for a thorough review of the facts first. Seong Jaemin, acting president of the Korea Labor Institute and secretary of the public interest representatives, stated, "The issue of the minimum wage for contract workers requires a comprehensive look at the variety of pay calculation methods, actual working conditions, and the specific context in which the system operates," and added, "It is more important to confirm fact-based data than to draw premature conclusions."

Starting with this discussion, the Minimum Wage Commission plans to continue its review of whether and how to apply the minimum wage to contract workers. Going forward, whether to differentiate by industry is also expected to become a major issue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.