New South Korean Bill May Impact Foreign Workers Rights

25-06-2023

Vedran Muftic

East Asia Researcher

A lawmaker from South Korea proposed a new bill regarding foreign domestic workers. This bill would exempt foreign workers from the minimum wage law. As more dual income households in South Korea hire domestic workers, this bill would provide a solution. This would especially benefit the younger generation, says one of the lawmakers [1]. Some have criticized this bill calling it “modern-day slavery” as human rights abuses could be observed in other Asian countries where domestic work is more common [2].    

If the bill aims to exclude foreign domestic workers from the legally mandated minimum wage, it could violate international law. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) guarantees fair wages regardless of migrant status under article 7. Article 11 of the ILO's Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) ensures that foreign domestic workers enjoy minimum wage. Additionally, the bill could potentially violate anti-discrimination principles on racial lines contained in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights if foreign workers are treated differently from national workers.

Some of the concerns voiced regarding the bill refer to the cases of human rights abuse observed in other Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and The Philippines [3]. In these countries, the abuses range from emotional abuse to physical abuse such as sexual abuse and overworking. Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME) argues that countries such as Singapore needs to extend its current legislative protections to combat mistreatment of foreign domestic workers.  

It is at the current stage unclear whether the bill in South Korea could explicitly violate any international labor laws. However, previous observances of human rights violations with foreign domestic workers in countries such as Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore could be a cause of concern even if the proposed bill would comply with international standards.

Reference and further reading:

[1] Choi, S. H., & Choi, S. H. (2023, May 21). South Korea wants Southeast Asian domestic workers to support families. But are they welcome? South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3221195/south-korea-wants-southeast-asian-domestic-workers-support-families-are-they-welcome 

[2] Reporter, G. S. (2023, March 30). Foreign maids and no military service: South Korea criticised over ideas to boost birthrate. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/30/foreign-maids-and-no-military-service-south-korea-criticised-over-ideas-to-boost-birthrate

[3] 8.5 How should the level be set and adjusted for domestic workers? (2015, December 3). https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/wages/minimum-wages/domestic-workers/WCMS_438276/lang--en/index.htm