Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) - Republic of Korea (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee understands that the Minimum Wage Act was revised in May 2005. As the text of the revised Act is not available at the Office, the Committee would appreciate receiving a copy.

The Committee understands that the national minimum wage was last modified in August 2006 and is now set at 3,480 won per hour (around US$3.63). The new minimum pay rate represents a 12.3 per cent increase from last year and is expected to benefit almost 1.8 million workers, or approximately 12 per cent of the total workforce. The Committee requests the Government to transmit a copy of the legal text establishing the new minimum wage and also to provide full particulars on the process of tripartite consultations held prior to its determination. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its communication dated 24 May 2006 that workers’ minimum remuneration is protected in case employers reduce working hours from 44 to 40 hours per week and asks the Government to provide details of how this protection will be ensured.

Further, the Committee asks the Government to reply to certain points raised in its previous comment concerning the application of Article 1 (scope of application of the Minimum Wage Act, exclusion of domestic workers and workers of small enterprises employing four persons or less), Article 2 (sub-minimum rates for young workers under 18 years of age, mentally or physically handicapped, workers on probation and workers undergoing vocational training), and Article 5 (general information including labour inspection results, surveys and studies undertaken by the Minimum Wage Council, relevant statistics, etc.) of the Convention.