Pay of part-time workers

With the German word “arbeit,” which means work, Koreans use “alba” and Japanese “baito.” Japan turned the German word into a term referring to a part-time job, and Korea did the same. Under law, part-time workers this year must receive the minimum wage of 4,320 won (4.01 U.S. dollars) per hour and 34,560 won (32.14 dollars) per eight-hour day. In reality, however, part-time workers are not protected by this law and their payments are often delayed.

In the U.S., low-paying simple labor is called “McJob" in reference to trivial work performed at the fastfood chain McDonald`s. In 1986, American sociologist Amitai Etzioni said in the Washington Post that McJobs are bad for children. He said two thirds of American high school students are working at fastfood restaurants like McDonald`s and that such jobs will take children nowhere educationally unlike newspaper delivery, which is done despite bad weather, or lemonade sales, which require price negotiations.

Despite this, American students continue to work at fastfood restaurants, coffee shops and convenience stores to relieve the financial burden of their parents. The Korean Employment and Labor Ministry began an investigation after a report said famous coffee houses were hiring students without giving weekly holiday pay, which is mandatory for workers who have worked for six days a week. The import cost of 10 grams of American coffee beans, the most popular ingredient in cafes in Korea, was a meager 123 won (11 cents) last year, but a cup of coffee sold for 3,500 to 4,000 won (3.30 to 3.70 dollars). Regrettably, cafes do not give weekly holiday pay to part-time workers despite selling a cup of Americano for 30 times its cost.

Park Won-soon, a lawyer-turned-civil activist and executive director of the Hope Institute who announced that he will run for Seoul mayor next month, came under fire in March after his institute was found to have exploited interns by paying 5,000 won (4.70 dollars) per day. Interns were in charge of tasks of regular workers and worked for five days a week over five months. Despite no pay, the competition rate for internships at the institute was 10 to 1 and quite a few workers said they felt rewarded. Many volunteers work for the organization, but it should pay wages to interns to attach symbolic meaning to their work.

Editorial Writer Song Pyeong-in (pisong@donga.com)