Debate over minimum wage for gig workers reignites as panel eyes vote Thursday

A clash over whether minimum wage protections should extend to gig and platform workers — including parcel delivery drivers, food couriers and private tutors — is set to resume at the Minimum Wage Commission Thursday. With labor and management unable to narrow their differences, public-interest members on the panel face growing pressure to act, raising the prospect of a formal vote.

The commission convened its fifth plenary session at the Government Complex Sejong on Thursday to continue deliberations on whether minimum wage rules should cover piece-rate workers.

Piece-rate workers are paid based on output or volume rather than hours worked. The category includes couriers, food delivery riders, designated drivers and private tutors — workers typically classified as special-employment or platform workers.

Labor representatives argue that extending minimum wage coverage to these workers can no longer be deferred. They say many special-employment and platform workers operate in effect under the direction and supervision of employers, yet fall outside the law's protections. Minimum wage coverage, they add, would ease excessive competition and long hours while providing a basic safety net.

Business groups stood firm, arguing that the Minimum Wage Act covers only workers recognized as employees under the Labor Standards Act. Because many piece-rate workers are registered as self-employed individuals, management says applying minimum wage rules to them is legally inappropriate and warns that expanding coverage would sharply raise labor costs for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners.

Earlier, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions each presented proposals at the two previous sessions for applying minimum wage rules to piece-rate workers, citing findings from a Ministry of Employment and Labor survey. Labor groups pointed to the survey's finding that special-employment and platform workers log average monthly working days and hours comparable to those of salaried employees, arguing that calculating a minimum wage for them is entirely feasible.

Employer representatives maintained, however, that the commission has no authority to determine whether a worker qualifies as an employee and that including special-employment workers in minimum wage coverage would require amending the law. The two sides ultimately failed to reach any conclusion, with their positions running in parallel.

Attention at Thursday's session centers on whether the public-interest members will call a halt to deliberations and move to a vote. The commission comprises 27 members — nine each representing workers, employers and the public interest. When labor and management cannot agree, the public-interest members' judgment in effect decides the outcome.

A prolonged debate over piece-rate worker coverage could delay the broader review of next year's minimum wage level, including the question of whether to apply different rates by industry. The initial wage demands that labor and management are each expected to submit for 2027 could as a result be pushed back to late this month at the earliest.

Meanwhile, this year's minimum wage stands at 10,320 won (about $7.50) per hour, a 2.9 percent increase — or 290 won — from the previous year. The legal deadline for setting next year's minimum wage falls at the end of this month, though in most years the final decision stretches into July. The outcome of Thursday's session is expected to serve as a bellwether for the pace and direction of the minimum wage review going forward.