Seoul City Begins Paying Weekly Holiday Allowance to Construction Workers... Average Wage Up 3.4%

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Seoul City announced on the 2nd that it began paying weekly holiday allowances starting from July, as promised in the 'Construction Job Innovation' declaration made last May.

Seoul City had announced through the 'Construction Job Innovation' initiative aimed at improving the poor employment structure and labor environment at construction sites that public construction workers on city-commissioned projects who work five days a week would be paid a 'weekly holiday allowance' equivalent to one day's wage.

Analyzing the July wages of 33 public construction sites where Seoul City paid the weekly holiday allowance, the city revealed that the proportion of construction workers receiving the weekly holiday allowance increased by 23 percentage points (from 14.3% to 37.7%). The average monthly wage rose by 3.4%, from 2,174,000 KRW to 2,247,000 KRW.

This survey analyzed labor cost payments, weekly holiday allowance occurrence days, and average wage increases for about 1,000 workers across 33 sites. Due to the rainy season and other factors, the number of working days in July was irregular, and since this was the first month of implementation, the city expects that more workers will benefit as the weekly holiday allowance becomes established in actual workplaces.

Earlier in May, Seoul City declared the 'Construction Job Innovation' to prepare for the post-COVID-19 era. The main points include ▲full support of the 7.8% social insurance burden previously deducted from workers' wages, the first in the nation ▲mandatory payment of weekly holiday allowances and use of standard labor contracts ▲incentives (employment improvement grants) for excellent companies that improved weekly wage systems.

After announcing the 'Construction Job Innovation Plan,' the city has been reflecting the weekly holiday allowance in construction costs and conducting training for Seoul City, district offices, and related agencies' contract and supervision departments to ensure workers receive the allowance. A 'cost reflection and execution manual' is also being distributed. Promotional materials containing information about the weekly holiday allowance will be produced and placed at each site for construction workers to see.

Meanwhile, Seoul City is pushing to amend the 'Seoul Regional Construction Industry Revitalization Ordinance' to support construction workers' social insurance premiums such as national pension and health insurance. The city plans to increase social insurance enrollment rates by supporting the national pension and health insurance premiums that were previously deducted from construction workers' wages. Construction workers who worked eight or more days per month at a single workplace are eligible for workplace national pension and health insurance, but many avoided enrollment due to the 7.8% deduction rate burden. Going forward, the city will fully support these premiums by reimbursing the construction companies after settlement.

Han Je-hyun, Director General of Safety at Seoul City, said, "While construction sites have traditionally operated on a daily wage basis, we will continue to innovate construction jobs to create an environment where workers receive allowances based on actual work and can work stably by enrolling in social insurance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.