Ruling bloc divided on foreign nannies' pay

A hundred Filipina domestic helpers arrive at Incheon Airport on Aug. 6. (Pool photo via Yonhap)

South Korea's ruling bloc is divided over whether to exclude foreign caregivers from minimum wage standards, with ruling party politicians advocating for more affordable options for households, while the labor minister nominee warns it could breach the Constitution as well as international labor laws.

Kim Moon-soo, the former Gyeonggi Province governor nominated by President Yoon Suk Yeol for labor minister, said in a written statement Sunday, a day ahead of his parliamentary confirmation hearing, that discriminatory application of minimum wages for a foreigner could be deemed a violation of South Korea's Constitution and laws, as well as International Labor Organization standards such as Convention No. 111.

Kim, a labor activist-turned-conservative politician, added that he could review the suggestion if the Seoul municipal government asks for the discriminatory application of the wage policy, but added that "concerns will also be considered."

Korea ratified ILO Convention No. 111, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin that impairs equality of opportunity and treatment in all areas of employment or occupation.

Despite such concerns, Reps. Na Kyung-won, Kim Sun-gyo and Yoo Sang-bum in the ruling party are set to hold a parliamentary panel session Tuesday to discuss ways to pay lower wages to foreign domestic workers through what they call "discriminatory application of minimum wages."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, one of the leaders in charge of the foreign nanny pilot program, will also deliver a keynote speech at the event, according to Na's office, as the seminar is meant to break away from the "negative view toward the discriminatory application of minimum wage."

Na's office also said that Seoul's pilot program indicated that caregiving services might seem elusive for ordinary people given the cost burden. According to Seoul, 1 in 3 households to which foreign caregivers would be dispatched is located in the wealthy southern Seoul districts of Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu.

Na's office added that it is imminent for South Korea to refer to Singapore and Hong Kong as examples of not putting foreign domestic helpers' pay on par with the nation's minimum wage policy, even though Singapore does not have a minimum wage.

Debate on foreign caregivers intensified in recent weeks after 100 professionally trained Filipinas arrived in Seoul to take part in the pilot program, jointly operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Labor Ministry. They are subject to the South Korean minimum wage of 9,860 won ($7.40), as they would be employed at one of two certified agencies and their rights -- including to the minimum wage and four mandatory insurance programs -- would be protected under the Act on the Employment Improvement of Domestic Workers.

If they work eight hours, five days a week, the caregivers who are to be deployed to households will earn 2.38 million won per month in the pilot's six-month run.

But in Singapore and Malaysia, foreign domestic workers are paid $400 per month -- a minimum threshold suggested by the Philippines Department of Migrant Workers -- while those in Hong Kong are paid at least 4,870 Hong Kong dollars ($625) per month, both less than half of what those in South Korea would be paid, according to advocates of discriminatory application of minimum wages.

None of Singapore, Malaysia nor Hong Kong has ratified ILO Convention No. 111 regarding discrimination in employment and occupation.

You Hye-mi, senior secretary to the president for population policy, last week suggested allowing an individual to directly hire a foreign domestic worker without a third-party housekeeping service agent.

Under a separate set of rules, people hired directly by their clients for housekeeping without an agent are not necessarily protected by the minimum wage regulations.

By Son Ji-hyoung(consnow@heraldcorp.com)