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Korea’s regulatory system for migrant workers offers many featuresworth emulating!

Korea’s regulatory system for migrant workers offers

many featuresworth emulating

Posted by on February 9, 2015 in Articles, Facts, research, analysis

 
migrant_farmers_korea_640w

When an employer in South Korea needs to fill a position with a foreign worker, he has to apply to the central government’s Job Center. This state body will provide the employer with three shortlisted workers and the employer has to choose from among them.

When Kim Misun, executive director of We Friends, an NGO helping migrant workers in Korea, described how the system works in her country, it struck your writer as vastly different from Singapore’s system. There may be a lot we can learn from Korea. The purpose of this note is to describe what your writer learned from this talk, as a basis for further thought.

Kim Misun, Executive Director, We Friends
Kim Misun, Executive Director, We Friends

Ms Kim was speaking at a conference organised by Migrant Forum Asia, in Amman, Jordan, in December 2014. NGOs from more than 13 countries from Japan to Lebanon were represented.

Basically, Korea’s recruitment of foreign workers is closely tied to government-to-government agreements, whereas Singapore tends to let private parties choose who they want to bring in. Korea currently has agreements with 15 countries, with most workers coming from China, Mongolia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Foreign workers are engaged in many sectors, from manufacturing to construction, services, fishery and agriculture.
Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labour maintains a website in 16 languages, enabling potential workers from each of the approved source countries to see for themselves what the Employment Permit System (EPS) is and what working in Korea entails. The main URL (https://www.eps.go.kr/) leads to the Korean-language version, but from there other language versions are accessible. Clicking the Filipino flag will bring up the English-language version.

Quotas for the number of migrant workers admitted into South Korea are set by the Foreign Workforce Policy Committee, set up within the Prime Minister’s Office. There are separate quotas for each source country.
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Looking for work and recruitment feeshttp://twc2.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/korea_eps_recruitfees.gif


Prospective migrant workers need to sign up with their home country governments for deployment to South Korea. In principle, as can be seen from the above-mentioned website, applicants are to be selected based on objective criteria, such as training qualifications. Employees pay prescribed fees as per a schedule (click on thumbnail at right) which We Friends shared with TWC2. The total fees vary by country of origin. At the lowest end, Filipino workers pay about US$552; at the highest end, US$1,740 for Pakistani workers.
This is completely different from the case of workers wanting to work in Singapore, where our government makes no attempt to regulate the amount in agents’ fees paid in workers’ home countries, and where agent fees for new arrivals are rarely below S$8,000 (US$5,970) in the case of non-domestic workers. This lack of regulatory oversight has resulted in the currently dismal situation where the ability to pay exorbitant placement fees is the chief determinant for recruitment, not skill or qualifications. TWC2 has long pointed out that using the ability to pay as the filter for selecting workers is not in Singapore’s skills and productivity interest at all.

It occurred to your writer that the Korean system is still not foolproof. It is entirely possible that even when recruitment is routed through home country governments as required by Korea’s system, prospective workers may be asked to pay more than the prescribed fees. In many source countries, corruption is hardly unknown. Moreover, with a language test component, an opening is also there for language schools to charge exploitative fees. However, with the recruitment system rooted in government-to-government agreements, the Korean government has the leverage to cut off the quota from a particular source country if the source country government is unable to eradicate corruption at its end.

Ms Kim, in her talk, gave an example of how the quota for Vietnam was severely reduced on one occasion, albeit not because of unauthorised fees, but because too many workers from Vietnam were exiting their proper jobs to go into the shadow economy after arriving in Korea. Vietnam was then compelled to put in a better system to ensure that its citizens abide by the law, in order to restore the quota. Even if not directly related to the issue of recruitment fees, nonetheless this example demonstrates the leverage the South Korean government has over source countries.

This contrasts with the Singapore situation where recruitment is entirely in private parties’ hands. Not only does our government have no leverage, it takes a stand-off position with respect to the issue of agent fees when such fees are transacted within home countries. Yet, the consequences that high agent fees produce – the vulnerability of workers to abuse and exploitation – are manifested in Singapore, and therefore the failure to design a system for Singapore that controls agent fees at source begins to appear as convenient denial of moral responsibility.

The Korean example is instructive in that it shows how a way can be found to get to grip with the problem.
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Looking for workers

In order to obtain foreign workers, employers must demonstrate that they are unable to find local workers to fill their vacancies. This requirement does not appear to be onerous. The EPS website says “employers can apply for Employment Permit at Job Centers in case of having failed to employ Koreans in spite of the efforts to hire them (for 3 to 7 days).”
The Job Center then gives the employer a shortlist of three names for each vacancy, from which the employer is to select one.

A standard contract has to be signed between employer and employee before a work visa is issued. This standard contract includes details such as the agreed salary, working hours, rest days and workplace. Naturally, it must conform with Korean law, which stipulates that the minimum wage also applies to foreign workers.

More specifically, South Korea’s minimum wage for 2014 was 5,210 KRW per hour (approx US$4.73 or S$6.41, ) according to this source. This translates to about US$900 (or S$1,200) per month, before overtime pay. How does this compare with typical basic pay for migrant workers in Singapore? It is about twice the level of basic salaries that construction, cleaning and shipyard workers from Bangladesh and India receive while working in Singapore. Their basic salaries are typically in the region of S$450 –S$650. Even with massive amounts of overtime, few of them get anywhere near the minimum basic wage that migrant workers in South Korea enjoy.
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Contract duration and premature termination

The standard contract is for a duration of three years, extendable for an extra period of one year and ten months. Once hired, a worker is not free to change job on his own, unless he is an ethnic Korean foreigner (mostly from China). Ethnic Koreans can change jobs.

If during this three-year period, the employer wants to terminate the worker, the employer has to prove to the Job Center Centre that he has valid reasons to do so. The Job Center will find another job for the worker so that he can complete his three-year term, said Ms Kim.
While Singapore too does not allow migrant workers on Work Permits to change jobs on their own, the similarity with Korea ends there. Singaporean employers can terminate a worker at any time without any need to justify such action to the authorities. Once terminated, the worker faces repatriation – which the law makes a legal obligation for employers – without any assured opportunity to look for another job.

Coupled with the high and unregulated recruitment fees paid by workers coming to Singapore, when a job is lost within the first year and a half of coming here, the worker typically finds himself in a financial net loss position, not having recovered through earned salary the amount he paid in recruitment fees. Singapore’s system is callous and brutal when compared to Korea’s.
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Training

A minimum of 16 hours of employment training is conducted for workers upon their arrival in Korea, and the cost has to be borne by employers. Currently, the training cost is 195,000 KRW (about US$177) for manufacturing and service workers, 210,000 KRW (about US$190) for those in agriculture, stockbreeding and fishery, and 224,000 KRW (about US$203) for those in the construction sector.
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Typical earnings and salary issues

Typical earnings vary considerable by sector, but with a minimum wage of around US$900 (S$1,200) before overtime, it is very likely that in most cases, foreign workers in Korea earn rather more than those in Singapore, job for job. Coupled with the fact that recruitment fees are held down by regulation, the chief burden borne by workers in Singapore — unpaid debt incurred in landing the job in the first place — is largely eliminated.

Uzbek workers in South Korea
Moreover, salaries have to be paid through the bank, which therefore provides an audit trail in case of dispute. Singapore does not mandate payment though bank and many employers pay in cash without even an itemised pay calculation given to the worker. This lack of documentation makes it very hard for the foreign worker in Singapore to prove his case should he be paid less than what he’s due.

Nonetheless, migrant workers in Korea report salary problems too. Despite payment through bank, it is impossible for the authorities to pre-emptively check every worker’s pay record. But when a complaint is lodged, officials will perform an investigation. Moreover, when there is a cluster of minimum wage violations – which tend to occur in the agriculture sector – a special, wider-ranging investigation will be conducted.
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Health and medical treatment

Employers are required to take up industrial accident compensation insurance, through paying into the state-run Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service (Kcomwel). This is unlike the case in Singapore where employers purchase insurance from private insurers.

Their website is http://www.kcomwel.or.kr/eng/ where it states clearly that “All workplaces with (i.e. employing or using) at least one full-time worker shall be subject to mandatory coverage” and that “Migrant workers suffering from work-related accidents are entitled for compensation including medical treatments, regardless of whether his(her) residence is lawful or not”.

Kcomwel runs its own hospitals, with at least one in every major city, complete with rehabilitation centers. This seems to remove one of the major issues faced by migrant workers in Singapore: that of hospitals refusing or delaying treatment because employers are tardy in paying or in providing payment guarantees.

On the other hand, in Korea, a portion of medical treatment fees has to be paid by the worker, according to Ms Kim.

The law likewise provides for temporary disability compensation (also known in Singapore as ‘medical leave wages’) to cover the period during which the worker is unable to work, rated at 70% of the worker’s average earnings over the previous three months. There is provision for a higher percentage for low-income workers, though details are unclear from the website. Additionally, it appears that temporary disability compensation continues for as long as the worker is medically unable to work; this is unlike the case in Singapore where this benefit ends 12 months after the date of the injury regardless of whether the worker can support himself or not. Our system leaves the worst-injured e.g. amputees and those who need multiple operations and who take the longest time to recover, in the lurch.

Despite this, Ms Kim reports that cases that are difficult to be recognised as industrial accidents tend to be left out of the system, and that is when NGOs have to come in.

Another area where NGOs play a big role is in providing shelter to workers while they recover from their injuries. Home country governments also run shelters.
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Discussion

On the whole, We Friends was of the view that Korea’s Employment Permit System (EPS) is an improvement over the previous state of affairs. Before this, foreigners came to work under a “training”  system, and were paid only training fees, not salary. They were not covered by labour laws. It took ten years of struggle, said Ms Kim, to move policy-makers towards the EPS.

One area in which the situation has improved greatly is that where 50 – 60% of “trainees” used to quit their jobs and go underground as undocumented workers – causing a whole host of other social problems – under EPS there has been a huge reduction. In 2011, only 7.7% left their proper jobs to become undocumented workers.

There has also been an overall improvement in transparency under the EPS, said Ms Kim, and recruitment fees have gone down.

Nonetheless, the EPS has significant defects. Chiefly, EPS is “very employer-centric”, said Ms Kim. ”If a worker is not satisfied with a workplace, he cannot change jobs.”  As one might imagine, this opens the door to bullying behaviour by employers.

Moreover, employers continue to confiscate passports.
Essentially, there are four key differences between the Korean system and Singapore’s
  1. There is a lot more governmental oversight over who enters Korea to work. Employers do not hire directly from source countries – the source of many abuses we see in Singapore.
  2. Migrant workers enjoy the minimum wage in law even if in practice there are loopholes, and they are paid through the banking system, so checks can be made.
  3. Workers get assured contracts of 3 years and which are extendable.
  4. Medical care and compensation benefits for work-related illnesses and injuries come through a state-run body. This removes many of the chief obstacles faced by migrant workers in Singapore who face resistance and delays by employers unwilling to provide despite their legal obligation to do so.
It is not suggested that Korea’s system is perfect, but it is evident that in several important ways, it is far better than Singapore’s. It is also possible that this article contains small inaccuracies since it is based on a talk, some follow-up email communication and a perusal of relevant websites.

However, what is clear is that in a very fundamental way there is a difference in approach. Singapore is more reliant on a laissez-faire system, one that gives employers greater freedom to shift costs and risks onto workers. This preference is rooted in the overriding aim of keeping employers’ costs down, at the expense of workers’ rights if need be, with the applicability of these rights often contested by the state whenever these issues are raised. Given this attitude, the defects of a laissez-faire system are, at the very minimum, insufficiently addressed, and in some areas, ignored. The plea that “nothing can be done; it’s outside Singapore’s control” is undermined by the example from South Korea.

Ref;http://twc2.org.sg/2015/02/09/koreas-regulatory-system-for-migrant-workers-offers-many-features-worth-emulating/

Salaries and benefits > Minimum wage: Countries Compared!

Minimum wage: Countries Compared

 

5,000 Afghani per month for government workers. No minimum set for private sector workers, but labor law prevents paying private sector workers less than government workers. Informal sector day workers are unprotected.
21,000 Albanian lek \u00eb per month, nationally. The law establishes a 40-hour workweek, but the actual workweek is typically set by individual or collective-bargaining agreement.
18,000 Algerian dinars per month, nationally.
\u20ac962 ($1,233) per month, \u20ac5.55 ($7.12) per hour.
11,854.30 kwanza per month; paid thirteen times times a year.
EC$ 7.50 ($2.78) per hour.
3,600 Argentine pesos ($455) per month for up to 200 hours; paid thirteen times a year.
45,000 Armenian dram per month.
Most workers are covered by an award , which may vary by employee age, geographical location and industry. For adults not covered by an award or agreement, the minimum wages is A$ 16.37 per hour, A$622.20 per week; set federally by Fair Work Australia . Junior workers, apprentices and trainees not covered by an award each have a minimum wage level set nationally.
None; instead, nationwide collective bargaining agreements set minimum wages by job classification for each industry and provide for a minimum wage of \u20ac 1,000 per month\u2014Wages where no such collective agreements exist, such as for domestic workers, janitorial staff, and au pairs, are regulated in pertinent law and are generally lower than those covered by collective bargaining.
105 Azerbaijani manat per month.
None; 300 BHD ($800) for the public sector workers (only applies to Bahraini nationals).
1,500 taka ($19) per month for all economic sectors not covered by industry-specific wages; in the garment industry the minimum wage is 5,300 taka ($68) per month. The minimum wage is set nationally every five years by the National Minimum Wage Board in a tripartite forum industry by industry.
BDS$ 6.25 ($3.13) per hour for household domestics and shop assistants; the Ministry of Labor recommends all other sectors use this as the de facto minimum wage.
9,890 Belarusian rubles per hour and 1,660,000 Belarusian rubles per month.
url= http://www.emploi.belgique.be/defaultTab.aspx?id=39004 |title=Salaire - Service public f\u00c3\u00a9d\u00c3\u00a9ral Emploi, Travail et Concertation sociale |publisher=Emploi.belgique.be |date=2013-06-28 |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
BZ$ 3.30 ($1.65) per hour.
31,625 CFA francs per month; the government set minimum wage scales for a number of occupations.
3,000 Bhutanese ngultrum ($67) per month.
1200 Bolivian bolivianos per month. plus an obligatory Christmas bonus equal to one month's pay, prorated for the amount of time the worker has worked in their present position.
320 convertible marks ($216) per month in Republika Srpska ; 357 ($241) convertible marks per month in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina .
3.8 Botswana pula ($0.58) an hour for most full-time labor in the private sector; 2.0 ($.26) Botswana pula for domestic workers or approximately 16 pula ($2.05) a day; 408 Botswana pula ($52.31) per month for workers in the agriculture sector.
R$ 724.00 per month, paid 13 times a year.
None
340 Bulgarian lev per month, 2.03 lev per hour.
34,664 CFA francs per month.
None; 50,000 Myanma kyat per month for salaried public employees; 2,000 kyat per day for day laborers, supplemented by various subsidies and allowances.
None; in the past the government set the minimum wage, but during the year the minimum wage was set by market forces.
url= http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/wages-03212013185628.html |title=Cambodia Ups Minimum Wages for Workers |publisher=Rfa.org |date= |accessdate=2014-01-08}}
28,216 CFA francs ($56) per month.
The minimum wage in Canada is set by each province and territory; ranges from C$ 9.95 to C$11.00 per hour.
None; in the public sector 12,000 Cape Verdean escudos per month for an entry\u2011level worker.
Set in the public sector by decree and varies by sector and by kind of work; for example, approximately 8,500 CFA francs ($17) per month for agricultural workers; approximately 26,000 CFA francs ($51) per month for government workers.
59,995 CFA francs ($120) per month, 355 CFA francs per hour.
210,000 Chilean pesos per month for workers aged 18–65; 156,770 pesos for workers younger than 18 and older than 65; and 135,463 pesos for 'non remunerative' purposes.
The minimum wage in China is set locally, ranges from 830 RMB per month, 7.50 RMB per hour in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to 1,400 RMB per month, 15.2 RMB per hour in Beijing .
616,000 Colombian pesos per month plus 72,000 pesos per month for transportation allowance
55,000 Comorian francs ($150) per month.
Varies for specified industries from \u20a1 8,618.72 per 8-hour work day for unskilled workers to \u20a111,463.50 per day for specialized workers. All other occupations not explicitly covered fall under the generic scale, which varies from \u20a1257,219.78 per month for unskilled workers to \u20a1562,375.83 for licentiates .
2,984.78 Croatian kuna per month.
225 Cuban pesos ($9) per month; supplemented by the government with free education, subsidized medical care (daily pay is reduced by 40 percent after the third day of a hospital stay), housing, and some subsidized food.
None; \u20ac870 per month for shop assistants, nurses' assistants, clerks, hairdressers, and nursery assistants; it rises to \u20ac924 after six months' employment.
8,500 Czech korun per month, 50.60 korun per hour.
1,680 Congolese francs ($1.83) per day.
None; instead, negotiated between unions and employer associations; the average minimum wage for all private and public sector collective bargaining agreements was 109 kroner ($19) per hour.
None; canceled by the 2006 Labor Code for occupational categories, establishing that wages be set after common agreement between employers and employees.
EC$ 4.00 ($1.50) per hour.
6,320 Dominican pesos ($167) per month in the FTZs and between 6,880 pesos and 11,292 pesos outside the FTZs, depending upon the size of the company; 5,117 pesos ($130) per month for the public sector; 234 pesos a day for farm workers who are covered by minimum wage regulations based on a 10-hour day, with the exception of sugarcane workers who received 129 pesos ($3.19) based on an eight-hour workday.
US$ 115 per month.
US$ 398 per month. Minimun wage has been set by the government on US$340 per month for the year 2014. A worker that works a full year, receives a 13th (of US$340) and a 14th (of US$340) sallary.
None; for the public sector the minimum wage is LE 700 ($110) per month.
Set sector by sector; for example, US$ 224.29 a month for retail employees; US$219.40 for industrial laborers; US$187.68 for apparel assembly workers; US$104.97 for agriculture workers. The wage for seasonal agricultural workers of cotton and sugar cane is used here.
129,035 CFA franc ($260).
None; 500 Eritrean nakfa ($33) per month in the public sector.
title=Miinimumpalk t\u00f5useb 320 eurolt 355 eurole kuus|url= http://arileht.delfi.ee/news/uudised/miinimumpalk-touseb-320-eurolt-355-eurole-kuus.d?id=67341380|trans_title=Minimum wage rises from 320 to 355, 390 from 2015|publisher=delfi.ee|language=Estonian|accessdate=1 January 2014}}
None; some government institutions and public enterprises set their own minimum wages: public sector employees, the largest group of wage earners, earned a monthly minimum wage of 420 birr birr ($23); employees in the banking and insurance sector had a minimum monthly wage of 336 birr ($18).
None; US$ 2.65 per hour for employment with the national government; all states have a minimum hourly wage for government workers: $2.00 in Pohnpei , $1.25 in Chuuk , $1.42 in Kosrae , and $1.60 in Yap ; $1.75 for private sector workers in Pohnpei. |
url= http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/234720/fiji-minimum-wage-set-at-us$1-point-05 |title=Fiji minimum wage set at US$1.05 | Radio New Zealand News |publisher=Radionz.co.nz |date=2014-01-30 |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
None; however, the law requires all employers, including non-unionized ones, to pay minimum wages agreed to in collective bargaining agreements; almost all workers are covered under such arrangements.
url= http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F2300.xhtml |title=Salaire minimum de croissance (Smic) - Service-public.fr |publisher=Vosdroits.service-public.fr |date=1970-01-01 |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
url= http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/201001190467.html&usg=ALkJrhh1HPcb0tEWLtyZqGyj8WoC2759rw |title=Google Translate |publisher=Translate.googleusercontent.com |date= |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
90 Georgian lari ($54) per month for private sector workers; 115 lari ($68) per month for public employees.
None; except for construction workers, electrical workers, janitors, roofers, painters, and letter carriers. Minimum wage is often set by collective bargaining agreements in other sectors of the economy and enforceable by law.
5.24 Ghanaian cedis ($2.91) per day.
url= http://www.boeckler.de/pdf/ta_mindestlohndatenbank.pdf |title=WSI - Mindestlohndatenbank : Inhaltsverzeichnis |publisher=Boeckler.de |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
Minimum wage schedules set pay by occupation; for example, the minimum wage for domestic workers, for example, was EC $ 800 ($296.30) monthly, while that for a security guard was EC $6.00 ($2.22) per hour.
71.40 Guatemalan quetzales per day for agricultural and nonagricultural work and 65.63 quetzales per day for work in export-sector regime factories. Minimum wage earners also are due a mandatory monthly bonus of 250 quetzales, and salaried workers receive two mandatory yearly bonuses (the bono 14 and the Christmas bonus), each equivalent to one month\u2019s salary.
The labor code allows the government to set a minimum hourly wage; however, the government has not exercised this provision nor does it promote a standard wage.
19,030 CFA francs ($38) per month plus a bag of rice
G$ 35,000 per month, G$202 per hour; .
200 Haitian gourdes ($5) per day for industrial and commercial work; 300 Haitain gourdes ($7.50) per day for workers paid at a piecework rate for an eight-hour workday.
Minimum wages ranged from a low of 4,870.91 Honduran lempiras per month, 20.3 lempiras per hour to 7,850.56 lempiras per month, 31.8 lempiras per hour.
HK$30 per hour is the minimum wage in Hong Kong .
101,500 Hungarian forint per month, 586 Hungarian forint per hour.
None; minimum wages are negotiated in various collectively bargained agreements and applied automatically to all employees in those occupations, regardless of union membership; while the agreements can be either industry- or sector-wide, and in some cases firm-specific, the minimum wage levels are occupation-specific.
last=Wage Indicator Foundation|title=Minimum Wages India 2012 \u2013 Current Minimum Wage Rate India|url= http://www.paycheck.in/main/salary/minimumwages|accessdate=10 December 2012}}
date=March 2014}}
The minimum wage was raised to 487,125 Iranian tomans (165$) (equal to 4,871,250 rials ) effective on the 2013 Persian New year ; set annually for each industrial sector and region. The standard workweek is 44 hours, and any work over 48 entitles the worker to overtime.
Less than 12,000 Iraqi dinars ($10) per day for a skilled worker and less than 5,250 dinars ($4.50) per day for an unskilled worker.
url= http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/pay_and_employment/pay_inc_min_wage.html |title=Minimum rates of pay |publisher=Citizensinformation.ie |date= |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
4,300 Israeli new shekel ($1,218$) per month, 23.12 Israeli new shekel ($6.56) per hour.
None; instead set through collective bargaining agreements on a sector-by-sector basis.
J$ 5,600 per week.
Ranges from 664 Japanese yen ($8.17) to 869 yen ($10.65) per hour; set on a prefectural and industry basis.
190 Jordanian dinars ($268) per month.
19,966 Kazakhstani tenge per month.
Set by the government by location, age and skill level; the lowest urban minimum wage was 11,995 shillings ($139) per month, and the lowest agricultural minimum wage for unskilled employees was 4,854 shillings ($57) per month, excluding housing allowance.
None; estimated by government authorities to be between A$ 1.60 ($1.66) to A$1.70 ($1.77) per hour
url= http://www.kryeministri-ks.net/repository/docs/Vendimet_e_mbledhjes_se_33-te_te_Qeverise_2011.pdf |title=Republika e Kosoves |publisher=Kryeministri-ks.net |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
60 Kuwaiti dinars ($216) per month.
840 Kyrgyzstani som per month, nominally; used for administrative purpose.
626,000 Lao kip ($79) per month; additionally, employers were required to pay an 8,500-kip ($1) meal allowance per day. The minimum wage for civil servants and state enterprise employees was last increased to 500,000 kip ($63) per month.
url= http://www.lm.gov.lv/text/2525 |title=Labkl\u0101j\u012bbas ministrija |publisher=Lm.gov.lv |date=2012-07-17 |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
675,000 pounds ($450) per month, 30,000 pounds per day.
1,029 maloti ($119) per month to 1,122 maloti ($130) per month; varied by sector.
15 Liberian dollars ($0.31) per hour not exceeding 8 hours per day, excluding benefits, for unskilled laborers; 5,600 LD ($114) per month for civil servants.
450 Libyan dinars per month; the government heavily subsidizes rent and utilities.
None
1000 Lithuanian litas ($371) per month, 6.06 litas ($2.25) per hour.
url= http://www.mss.public.lu/publications/parametres_sociaux/index.html |title=Minist\u00e8re de la S\u00e9curit\u00e9 Sociale du Grand-Duch\u00e9 de Luxembourg - Param\u00e8tres sociaux |publisher=Mss.public.lu |date= |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
108,019.20 Malagasy ariary per month, 623.20 ariary per hour for non-agricultural workers; 109.520,00 ariary per month, 547.60 ariary per hour for agricultural workers.
MK 317 ($1.02) per day.
RM 900 per month on the peninsula, and RM 800 per month for the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan.
None; 3,100 Maldivian rufiyaa ($242) per month in the government sector.
28,465 CFA francs ($57), supplemented by a required package of benefits, including social security and health care.
url= http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lom&itemid=11205 |title=National Minimum Wage National Standing Order |publisher=Justiceservices.gov.mt |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
US$ 2.00 per hour for government and private sector employees.
30,000 Mauritanian ouguiya ($100) per month for adults.
607 Mauritian rupees ($20) per week for an unskilled worker in the Export Processing Zone (EPZ); 794 rupees ($26) per week for an unskilled factory worker outside the EPZ; set by the government by sector, and increased each year based on the inflation rate.
67.29 Mexican pesos per day for Zone A and 63.77 pesos per day for Zone B.
1400 Moldovan lei in the private sector; 900 lei per month in the public sector.
url= http://service-public-particuliers.gouv.mc/Communiques2/SMIC-2013/SMIC-2014 |title=SMIC 2014 / SMIC 2013 / Communiqu\u00e9s / Service Public Particuliers- Monaco |language= (French) |publisher=Service-public-particuliers.gouv.mc |date= |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
192,000 Mongolian t\u00f6gr\u00f6g per month.
url= http://www.poreskauprava.gov.me/vijesti/122181/OBAVJEsTENJE.html?alphabet=cyr |title=\u0414\u0435\u0442\u0430\u0459\u0438 |publisher=Poreskauprava.gov.me |date= |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
97 Moroccan dirhams ($11.50) per day in the industrialized sector, 63.39 dirhams ($7.50) per day for agricultural workers.
Set for nine different economic sectors; ranges from 2,300 Mozambican meticias ($78) a month in the agricultural sector to 6,171 meticias ($208) a month in the financial sector.
None; the mining, construction, security and agricultural sectors set basic levels of pay through collective bargaining.
None; there is a graduated salary system for public service officers and employees; none for private-sector workers.
8,000 Nepalese rupees per month.
url= http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/minimumloon/vraag-en-antwoord/hoe-hoog-is-het-minimumloon.html |title=Hoe hoog is het minimumloon? | Vraag en antwoord |publisher=Rijksoverheid.nl |date=2012-12-20 |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
NZ$ 13.75 per hour for workers 18 years old or older, and NZ$11 per hour for those aged 16 or 17 or in training; there is no statutory minimum wage for employees who are under 16 years old.
Set for nine different economic sectors; ranges from 2,566.89 Nicaraguan c\u00f3rdobas per month in the agricultural sector to 5,799.15 c\u00f3rdobas per month in the financial sector.
30,047 CFA francs ($60) per month.
18,000 naira per month ($115).
Averaging 5,000 - 10,000 North Korean won per day. roughly 2000 North Korean won is 1 US Dollar.
None; wages normally fall within a national scale negotiated by labor, employers, and local governments.
225 Omani rials ($592) per month plus allowances of 100 rials ($263) per month for citizens; does not apply to foreign workers.
10,000 Pakistani rupees per month.
US$ 2.50 per hour; does not include foreign workers.
url= http://www.mitradel.gob.pa/portal/page/portal/PGMITRADEL/Planificacion/Salario |title=Departamento De Analisis De Productividad Y Salario |publisher=Mitradel.gob.pa |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
100.80 Papua New Guinean kina ($40) per week, 2.29 kina per hour.
1,658,232 Paraguayan guaran\u00edes ($375) per month; The law discriminates against domestic workers, who are legally entitled to only 40 percent of the minimum wage. The law mandates that housing and food be counted towards domestic worker\u2019s salary.
750 Peruvian nuevos soles ($294) per month.
url= http://www.nwpc.dole.gov.ph/pages/statistics/stat_current_regional.html|title=SUMMARY OF CURRENT REGIONAL DAILY MINIMUM WAGE RATES|accessdate=23 August 2013}}
1,680 PLN (\u20ac405) per month. Real full cost (if a worker is not a student etc.) for employer(from which are taken different social, health etc. funds for that worker) is: 2028,43 PLN, and netto for worker, after cuts for health services, accidents fund, work fund, retirement etc. is 1237,20 PLN. With 40 hours week and 4 weeks in month it give about 12.67 PLN/per hour brutto(or after cuts netto ~7.73 PLN/hour).
\u20ac 565.83 per month in 12 payments, \u20ac485 per month in 14 payments; for full-time workers, rural workers, and domestic employees ages 18 and older.
None; the labor law provides the emir with authority to set a minimum wage, but he did not do so.
10,990 Macedonian denars per month in the textile and leather industries; 12,268 Macedonian denars per month in other sectors.
54,000 CFA francs ($109) per month in the formal sector.
850 RON Romanian lei per month, 5.059 Romanian lei per hour for a full-time schedule of 168 hours per month. ]
url= http://russianamericanbusiness.org/web_CURRENT/articles/1145/1/The-minimum-wage-will-increase-by-12.9-percent-up-to-5,205-roubles-in-2013|title=The minimum wage will increase by 12.9 percent up to 5,205 roubles in 2013|accessdate=14 June 2013}}
None; ranges from 500 to 1,000 Rwandan francs ($0.83 to $1.66) per day in the tea industry and 1500 to 5000 francs ($2.50 to $8.30) per day in the construction industry.
EC$ 8.00 ($3.00) per hour.
Minimum wage for some sectors; EC$ 300 ($111) per month for office clerks; EC$200 ($74) for shop assistants; EC$160 ($59) for messengers.
Set sector by sector; for example, EC$ 56 ($20.74) per day for agriculture workers (shelter not provided); EC$40 ($14.81) per day for industrial workers; and EC$25 per day for household domestic workers.
WST$ 2.00 ($0.89) per hour for the private sector; WST$2.65 ($1.18) for the public sector.
\u20ac 8.96 ($11.49) per hour.
3,000 Saudi riyals ($800) per month; does not apply to foreign workers.
209.10 CFA francs ($0.42) per hour for general workers and 182.95 CFA francs ($0.37) per hour for agricultural workers.
115 dinars per hour.
None; SR 22.80 ($1.75) per hour in the public sector.
21,000 Sierra Leonean leones ($5.75) per month.
None
url= http://www.danovecentrum.sk/clanok-z-titulky/minimalna-mzda_2013.htm |title=Minim\u00e1lna mzda |publisher=Danovecentrum.sk |date= |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
url= http://www.mddsz.gov.si/si/zakonodaja_in_dokumenti/veljavni_predpisi/#c7576 |title=Veljavni predpisi | Ministrstvo za delo, dru\u017eino in socialne zadeve |publisher=Mddsz.gov.si |date= |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
SI$ 4.00 ($0.55) per hour for all workers except those in the fishing and agricultural sectors, who received SI$3.20 per hour.
None
None; for farm workers the minimum wage is approximately R 7.71 ($0.85) per hour; for domestic workers employed more than 27 hours per week it ranges from 4.85 rand ($0.53) to 7.06 rand ($0.78) per hour.
5,210 South Korean won per hour; reviewed annually.
url= http://www.empleo.gob.es/es/informacion/smi/contenidos/imporcualact.htm |title=Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social: Salario m\u00ednimo interprofesional. Importe |publisher=Empleo.gob.es |date= |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
6,500 rupees per month.
425 Sudanese pounds per month.
None; SRD 600 ($180) per month is the lowest wage for civil servants.
531.6 Swazi emalangeni ($76.50) per month for a domestic worker; 420 emalangeni ($60.50) a month for an unskilled worker; 600 emalangeni ($86.50) a month for a skilled worker.
None; set by annual collective bargaining contracts.
None; however, a majority of the voluntary collective bargaining agreements, reached on a sector-by-sector basis, contained minimum compensation clauses, which provided for compensation ranging from 2,200 to 4,200 francs ($2,363 to $4,511) per month for unskilled workers and 2,800 to 5,300 francs ($3,010 to $5,693) per month for skilled employees.
9,765 to 14,760 Syrian pounds ($176\u2013$266) per month, plus benefits, including compensation for meals, uniforms, and transportation.
NT$ 19,047 per month; NT$115 per hour.
250 Tajikistani somoni per month, plus certain government subsidies for workers and their families.
Varies by sector from 40,000 Tanzanian shillings per month to 400,000 shillings per month.
Ranges from 300 Thai baht per day and up, depending on the cost of living in various provinces; set by provincial tripartite wage committees that sometimes include only employer representatives.
B$ 4.00 ($4.00) per hour, B$30 ($3) per day, and B$150 ($150) per week.
50 dalasi ($1.47) per day for unskilled labor.
35,000 ($70) CFA francs per month.
None
TT$ 12.50 ($1.94) per hour.
For the industrial sector: 286 Tunisian dinars ($190) per month for a 48-hour workweek and 246 dinars ($164) per month for a 40\u2011hour workweek; 8 dinars ($5.50) to 9 dinars ($6) per day for agricultural workers; supplemented with transportation and family allowances.
1071 Turkish lira per month.
440 Turkmenistani manat per month.
None; the minimum annual salary in the public sector was approximately A$ 3,000 to A$4,000 ($3,120 to $4,160).
6,000 Ugandan shillings per month.
7.30 Ukrainian hryven' per hour or 1218 Ukrainian hryven' per month.
None
\u00a3 6.31 per hour (aged 21 and older), \u00a35.03 per hour (aged 18\u201320) or \u00a33.72 per hour (under 18 and finished compulsory education).
The federal minimum wage in the United States is US$ 7.25 per hour. States may also set a minimum, in which case the higher of the two is controlling; some territories are exempt and have lower rates.
7,920 Uruguayan pesos ($390) per month.
79,590 Uzbekistani som ($40) per month.
30,000 Vanuatu vatu ($323) per month, 170 vatu per hour.
Bolivares(BsF) 3270 Venezuelan bol\u00edvares per month.
author= |url= http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/89621/minimum-wage-to-increase-from-2014.html/ |title=Minimum wage to increase from 2014 - News VietNamNet |publisher=English.vietnamnet.vn |date= |accessdate=2014-03-04}}
None
Varies by sector; 522,400 Zambian kwacha per month for domestic workers, K1,132,400 per month for shopkeepers, and between K1,132,400 and K2,101,039 for general workers' in categories one to five which includes receptionists and clerks among others (wages are inclusive transportation, lunch, and housing allowances).
None, except for agricultural and domestic workers; government regulations for each of the 22 industrial sectors specify minimum wages. The minimum wage for all mine workers is currently pegged at $227 per month.

 

 

Hourly minimum wage: Countries Compared Citation

 

Totals

1
$11.10
2013
2
$10.63
2012
=3
$9.43
2013
=3
$9.43
2013
5
$9.12
2013
6
$8.80
2013
7
$8.76
2012
8
$8.65
2013
9
$8.59
2012
10
$8.53
2013
11
$7.81
2013
12
$7.71
2012
13
$7.40
2012


14
$7.25
2012

15
$5.87
2012

16
$5.64
2012
17
$5.55
2013
18
$5.49
2012
19
$5.45
2012
20
$5.19
2012
21
$4.90
2012
22
$4.52
2013
23
$4.34
2013
24
$4.11
2012
25
$4.05
2013
26
$3.98
2012

27
$3.96
2012
28
$3.94
2013
29
$3.57
2012
30
$3.50
2012
31
$3.47
2012
32
$3.40
2012
33
$3.28
2012
34
$3.26
2013
35
$3.02
2012
36
$2.86
2012
37
$2.80
2012
38
$2.70
2012
39
$2.55
2013
40
$2.50
2012
=41
$2.34
2012
=41
$2.34
2013
43
$2.30
2013
44
$2.29
2012
45
$2.27
2012
46
$2.19
2012
=47
$2.18
2012
=47
$2.18
2012
49
$2.17
2012
50
$2.13
2013
51
$2.08
2012
52
$2.04
2012
53
$2.02
2013
54
$1.96
2012
55
$1.95
2013
56
$1.93
2013
57
$1.87
2012
58
$1.85
2012
59
$1.84
2013
60
$1.82
2012
=61
$1.79
2012
=61
$1.79
2012
63
$1.77
2012
64
$1.76
2013
65
$1.73
2012
66
$1.72
2012
67
$1.65
2012
=68
$1.58
2012
=68
$1.58
2012
70
$1.55
2012
71
$1.48
2012
72
$1.47
2012
73
$1.37
2012
74
$1.31
2012
75
$1.29
2012
76
$1.27
2012
77
$1.24
2012
78
$1.23
2012
79
$1.22
2012
80
$1.20
2013
81
$1.18
2012
82
$1.15
2012
83
$1.13
2012
84
$1.08
2012
85
$1.04
2012
86
$1.03
2013
87
$1.02
2013
88
$0.98
2012
89
$0.95
2013
=90
$0.94
2013
=90
$0.94
2012
92
$0.92
2012
=93
$0.91
2012
=93
$0.91
2012
=95
$0.89
2012
=95
$0.89
2012
=97
$0.88
2012
=97
$0.88
2012
=99
$0.87
2013
=99
$0.87
2012
101
$0.86
2012
=102
$0.85
2012
=102
$0.85
2013
104
$0.84
2012
=105
$0.81
2012
=105
$0.81
2012
=107
$0.77
2012
=107
$0.77
2012
=109
$0.76
2013
=109
$0.76
2013
111
$0.72
2012
112
$0.71
2012
113
$0.70
2012
=114
$0.68
2012
=114
$0.68
2012
116
$0.67
2013
117
$0.63
2012
=118
$0.61
2012
=118
$0.61
2012
=120
$0.60
2012
=120
$0.60
2013
=120
$0.60
2012
123
$0.59
2012
=124
$0.57
2012
=124
$0.57
2012
126
$0.56
2012

127
$0.54
2012
=128
$0.53
2012
=128
$0.53
2012
130
$0.51
2013
131
$0.50
2012
=132
$0.48
2012
=132
$0.48
2012
134
$0.44
2012
135
$0.40
2012
136
$0.38
2012
137
$0.34
2012
138
$0.33
2013
=139
$0.32
2012
=139
$0.32
2012
=139
$0.32
2012
142
$0.25
2012
143
$0.24
2013
144
$0.22
2012
145
$0.19
2012
146
$0.17
2012
147
$0.08
2012
148
$0.06
2012
149
$0.03
2012

Citation

"All countries compared for Labor > Salaries and benefits > Hourly minimum wage", Wikipedia: List of minimum wages by country (Countries). Aggregates compiled by NationMaster. Retrieved from http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Labor/Salaries-and-benefits/Hourly-minimum-wage

Labor > Salaries and benefits > Hourly minimum wage: Countries Compared Map

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Interesting observations about Labor > Salaries and benefits > Hourly minimum wage

  • Luxembourg has had the highest salaries and benefits > hourly minimum wage since 2012.
  • France has ranked in the top 2 for salaries and benefits > hourly minimum wage since 2012.
  • Belgium has ranked in the top 4 for salaries and benefits > hourly minimum wage since 2012.
  • Ireland has ranked in the top 6 for salaries and benefits > hourly minimum wage since 2012.
  • Netherlands has ranked in the top 7 for salaries and benefits > hourly minimum wage since 2012.
  • United Kingdom has ranked in the top 8 for salaries and benefits > hourly minimum wage since 2012.
  • San Marino has ranked in the top 10 for salaries and benefits > hourly minimum wage since 2012.
  • Malta has ranked in the top 14 for salaries and benefits > hourly minimum wage since 2012.
  • Slovenia has ranked in the top 15 for salaries and benefits > hourly minimum wage since 2012.
  • Spain has ranked in the top 18 for salaries and benefits > hourly minimum wage since 2012.