KCTU says it's ready to introduce per-piece minimum wage for gig workers

As deliberations over next year's minimum wage get underway in earnest, labor groups are pushing for a per-piece minimum wage regime that would extend minimum wage protections to special-employment and platform workers — including delivery riders, designated drivers and private tutors.

Park Jeong-hun, a worker representative on the Minimum Wage Commission and vice chairman of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union, said Monday ahead of the commission's fourth plenary session that "preparations for introducing a per-piece minimum wage are complete," adding that "all that remains is a decision by the Minimum Wage Commission."

Labor groups cite as their primary justification the fact that special-employment and platform workers in effect operate under the direction of employers yet receive no minimum wage protection.

Delivery riders, designated drivers, home-visit inspectors and private tutors work under task structures and fee systems set by platforms or principal contractors, but are often not recognized as employees under the Labor Standards Act. Labor groups argue this leaves them excluded not only from the minimum wage but also from basic labor law protections such as weekly holiday pay and severance.

Labor groups contend that the existing Minimum Wage Act already provides a sufficient legal basis for the regime. Employer representatives argue that whether a worker qualifies as an employee under the Labor Standards Act must first be determined, but labor groups counter that Article 5, Paragraph 3 of the Minimum Wage Act already contains a separate basis for setting a minimum wage for piece-rate workers.

That provision states that "where wages are determined by piece-rate or similar methods, the minimum wage may be set in accordance with presidential decree, taking into account working hours and other factors." Labor groups argue this places both the authority and the responsibility for calculating a per-piece minimum wage with the Minimum Wage Commission.

Labor groups also rejected the business community's argument that designing such a system would be too difficult.

While employer representatives say it is hard to accurately measure working hours, expenses and actual income, labor groups counter that platform companies already hold large amounts of relevant data. Delivery platforms record riders' login times, distances traveled, number of deliveries and earnings in real time, while designated-driver platforms similarly track mileage and operating hours.

Labor groups also pointed to the freight truck safe freight rate system currently in operation, which calculates rates through surveys and cost analyses, as evidence that a per-piece minimum wage system is entirely feasible to design.

On concerns that small business owners would face higher costs, labor groups drew a line: the problem, they said, lies not with platform workers' wages but with the profit structures of platform companies.

Labor groups noted that self-employed business associations have recently raised their own complaints about excessive commission fees and advertising costs charged by delivery platforms, calling for market normalization. Platform companies, labor groups argued, reap strong profits through commissions and advertising fees while riders see their per-delivery income fall as those fees are cut.

Labor groups also cited New York City's simultaneous introduction of a minimum wage for delivery riders and a cap on platform commission fees, saying the policy improved working conditions while also boosting restaurant sales and consumer satisfaction.

Meanwhile, the Minimum Wage Commission is set to hold its fourth plenary session Tuesday at the Government Sejong Complex, where it will continue deliberations on next year's minimum wage, including the question of extending coverage to special-employment and platform workers.