Korean lawmakers urged to ease minimum wage hike

The Korean Employers Federation (KEF) is asking lawmakers to ease the minimum wage increase and other labour-related rules.

“Due to confrontational labor-management relations and the rigid employment system, the nation’s economy is dragged down by high costs and low productivity,” the KEF said.

The group submitted a 123-page document containing its members’ feedback on bills to eight major rulings.

It said the bills on “flextime, the minimum wage, safety regulations, corporate governance, scrapping the fair trade authority’s exclusive rights to file complaints about antitrust cases, inheritance tax, employment insurance and profit sharing between large firms and small and medium-sized enterprises” are causing extra burdens on firms.

KEF said the minimum wage should vary across different occupations, ages, and regions.

The country’s minimum wage has been increasing each year at an average of 9%. The group also urged lawmakers to cut the inheritance tax rate from 50% to 25%.