[Korean Dilemma] Foreign domestic workers: Yay or nay?

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A revised bill to exempt foreign domestic workers from the minimum wage law has been submitted, prompting some to quietly support the move and others to criticize it as discriminatory.

South Korea’s current minimum wage is 9,620 won ($7.31) per hour, which translates into about 2.1 million won a month. Many Korean full-time domestic workers, of which the pool is not big, get paid close to 3 million won monthly.

In places like Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, live-in helpers from countries with low incomes such as the Philippines can be hired at much lower wages.

Rep. Cho Jung-hun and 10 other legislators who proposed the bill expect migrant domestic workers will relieve working parents’ housework burden, prevent women’s careers from being interrupted and help lift the world's lowest fertility rate.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has welcomed the move. He is among the very few who have openly expressed their support.

Critics of the bill say that instead of bringing in foreign workers at lower wages, the country should address more fundamental problems, like improving its work culture to become more family-friendly. One way to do this is to expand options for parents of young children such as flexible work hours, which is currently offered in only a fraction of workplaces.

That's certainly something Korea should work towards.

But if the cost of domestic help can be reduced through more competition in the market, one can't deny it would benefit millions of working parents and possibly encourage more women to keep working.

A significant share of women in Korea leave the workforce, often involuntarily, after marriage or childbirth, which is a major reason why fewer and fewer women are getting married or having kids. But there is little reason to do so in Singapore, which has had a state-run foreign domestic workers (FDWs) program in place since 1978.

Employers of FDWs pay between 500 and 1,000 Singaporean dollars ($377-$753) in monthly salaries -- depending on the FDW’s work experience and nationality -- plus room and board. To the government, they pay a monthly levy of 300 Singaporean dollars.

Employers also have to cover the insurance and medical checkups for FDWs every six months as they are responsible for the health and welfare of their helpers.

For its citizens, the Singaporean government offers levy concessions for employers who live with a young child, an elderly individual or a person with disabilities, so that they are able to hire one or two FDWs per household.

It is worth noting that unlike Korea, Singapore has no laws or regulations setting minimum wage levels for workers, whether local or foreign.

Regarding Rep. Cho’s proposal of bringing in low-wage domestic workers from overseas, local workers in Korea have reason to oppose it. Also, the idea of excluding individuals of certain nationalities from the legal wage framework runs against Korea's principle of universal human rights and values-based diplomacy.

But aside from the issue of minimum wage, the lawmaker’s proposal should also be considered in terms of an individual’s choice or matching supply and demand.

Having lived in Singapore for several years, I know that a lot of FDWs in the city-state would be willing to come and work in Korea, which has become an increasingly attractive country to live in.

To devise a Korean version of Singapore's FDW system, advocates should allow the service providers and users to figure out a cost structure that works for both parties. This could involve adjusting work hours or other factors within the limits of legal wage levels.

While opening the gates to foreign domestic workers might help push away some of the darkest clouds hanging over Korea’s future -- the abysmal birthrate and women leaving the workforce mid-career -- it’s a big move for a society that is still working on embracing multiculturalism and diversity.

As Korea has already learned from its employment permit system, which allows employers who have failed to hire local workers legally to employ foreign workers from 16 countries, thorough protection of migrant workers' rights is crucial.

Most FDWs are young women, and should they arrive in Korea without systematic safeguarding, they would be exposed to various forms of exploitation and crime.

Korea is also a big country compared to cities like Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai where visa control and the tracking of migrant workers are less challenging.

Accommodation is also a problem that needs to be settled.

Most of Singapore's homes with three or more bedrooms have a small helper’s room. There are also dormitories where FDWs can stay temporarily, but workers generally prefer not to stay there.

Korean homes are not typically designed to accommodate an in-house helper. If the country ever gets to have a FDW system of its own, it would have to build or arrange good dormitories for those who can’t, or choose not to, live in their employers' homes.

In the long run, Korea needs to consider accepting more immigrants as the country is seeing a continually declining birthrate, which will inevitably lead to a national pension fiasco and possibly higher taxes, to name just a few major issues.

In addition to reaching a compromise on wage levels, proponents need to be aware of a myriad of problems that have occurred in other countries and should shift the discussion to include the perspectives of migrant workers.

By Kim So-hyun(sophie@heraldcorp.com)