Suwon Special Status City to Raise Living Wage by 10% Next Year to 12,630 Won per Hour

Suwon Special Status City's 'living wage' for next year has been determined at 12,630 won per hour (hourly wage), a 10% increase from this year. This represents 118% of the minimum wage of 10,700 won announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor for next year.

Suwon City's Labor-Management-Government Council held a regular meeting at the City Hall situation room on the 16th and voted to raise next year's living wage to 12,630 won. Converted to monthly salary, this amounts to 2,639,670 won (based on 209 working hours per month).

The Labor-Management-Government Council determined the living wage by comprehensively considering various factors including the consumer price inflation rate, minimum wage increase rate, workers' average wage increase rate, and Suwon City's financial situation.

Suwon City's living wage, introduced in 2014, goes beyond the minimum wage and refers to a wage level that enables workers to maintain a 'dignified life.' The living wage applies to approximately 2,000 workers, including workers employed by Suwon City and its invested/funded institutions, as well as workers directly employed by subcontractors of organizations and companies that receive administrative services delegated by Suwon City or provide construction projects and service contracts to Suwon City.

Suwon City also plans to pay a fairness allowance to temporary workers with contract periods of less than one year, directly hired by the public sector, to compensate for employment instability, in line with the government's policy direction of 'improving treatment of non-regular workers in the public sector.'

The compensation rate ranges from 8.5% to 10%, with higher rates applied to those with shorter contract periods. This supplements the issue where short-term contract workers are excluded from severance pay due to their contract period being less than one year.

The fairness allowance will be distributed on a sliding scale from a minimum of 380,000 won to a maximum of 2,480,000 won depending on the length of service. Workers employed for less than one month will have amounts calculated based on the number of days worked. This will apply starting from workers who retire on or after January 1, 2027.

Seo Jong-chang, Vice Chairman of Suwon City's Labor-Management-Government Council, who presided over the meeting, said, "The living wage is an important matter for workers' living stability and revitalization of the local economy," and added, "We determined next year's living wage after comprehensively reviewing various factors." He further urged, "Let us gather our wisdom to create a society where the value of labor is respected."