The presidential office said Friday that differentiating the minimum wage for foreign domestic helpers is an issue requiring “sufficient social discussion.”

The need to lower the minimum wage for such helpers has been raised after a group of Filipino women arrived in South Korea early this month to take part in a pilot program launched by the Seoul metropolitan government to help reduce the burden of child care and boost the country’s birth rate.

Currently, the same minimum wage applies to both locals and the Filipino helpers at 9,860 won (US$7.36) per hour, which translates to around 1.19 million won per month given they work four hours a day. Proponents of a differentiated minimum wage system have said the rate is high for the average household and also high compared with other countries.

“The position of the government and the presidential office is that this requires sufficient social discussion based on a review of practical issues, such as illegal stays, while considering domestic laws and internati
onal treaties,” a presidential official told reporters.

The official noted that applying a differentiated minimum wage could change the cost and form of hiring foreign domestic helpers under government pilot programs.

Unlike the Seoul city government’s program, a pilot run by the justice ministry allows users to hire foreign students and residents in the country through online platforms in the form of private contracts, making the legal minimum wage inapplicable.

Source: Yonhap News Agency