The application of the minimum wage to contract-based workers such as delivery riders and home appliance on-site inspectors fell through again in this year's minimum wage deliberations. Because it is difficult to measure working hours for contract-based workers whose pay is determined by performance, the Minimum Wage Act allows the minimum wage to be set separately for them, yet no formal discussion had been held. This year, expectations rose when the Ministry of Employment and Labor for the first time asked the Minimum Wage Commission (MWC) to deliberate on the legally stipulated separate application of the minimum wage to contract-based workers, but the conclusion went nowhere. It is hard to call this progress over last year, and the reality is worrisome as contract-based workers, left in the blind spots of the minimum wage, continue to grow in number. One cannot help but ask how long the MWC will continue to neglect its duties.

The Minimum Wage Commission, composed of 27 membersnine each from labor, management, and public-interest commissionersheld its fifth plenary session on the 11th and continued discussions on whether to implement a ‘separate application of the minimum wage for contract-based workers’, but, unable to bridge the gap between labor and management, it proceeded to a vote. With 15 against, 11 in favor, and 1 invalid, the motion was defeated. As labor and employer commissioners appear to have cast votes for and against, respectively, it is inferred that six of the eight public-interest commissioners, excluding the one abstention, opposed it.

It is regrettable that a vacuum in the minimum wage system, which should guarantee a humane life for all who work, even if only some are affected, continues. The public-interest commissioners, who hold the casting vote, bear substantial responsibility. This is because a majority of them sided with management. The public-interest commissioners should ask themselves whether ignoring the voices of countless workers who do not even receive the protection of the minimum wage is truly ‘the public interest’.

The government is not free from responsibility either. During deliberations last year, the public-interest commissioners asked the Ministry of Employment and Labor to survey the actual conditions of contract-based workers and submit the results this year. Instead of conducting its own field survey, the Ministry merely commissioned outside research, and the report reportedly remained at the level of a simple questionnaire. Such shoddy groundwork by the Ministry likely provided a pretext for public-interest commissioners to cast opposing votes on the grounds of insufficient statistics on contract-based workers. Even while requesting deliberation, it failed to properly prepare materials for deliberation; it would have little to say in the face of criticism for such duplicity.

At a press briefing last month, Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, when asked about applying the minimum wage to contract-based workers, said, “It is time to move toward a ‘Minimum Wage Commission for everyone’.” The intent was to eliminate the blind spots of the minimum wage. However, in light of this rejection by the MWC, it can hardly be called a ‘Commission for everyone’. The MWC and the Ministry of Employment and Labor should not wait until the minimum wage deliberations next year, but should promptly devise ways to apply the minimum wage to the contract-based labor system. Forming a specialized committee on the minimum wage for contract-based workers, as demanded by labor, could also be an alternative.