One in four full-time workers in Korea is a low-wage worker, the highest ratio among member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a report said Thursday.
According to the OECD's annual report on employment outlook, Korea's "incidence of low pay" stood at 25.9 percent as of 2010, 0.2 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
It marked the second consecutive time that the country has topped the list among the 34 members of the rich nations' club.
Low-wage workers are full-time employees who earn less than two thirds of the median wage.
The average rate of low-paid workers among OECD members was 16.3 percent in the same period, 9.6 percentage points lower than that of South respectively.
Low state-determined minimum salary level and the practice of employers paying less than the minimum wage are reflected in the high and rising incidence of low-paid employment in the country.
The country's relative minimum-wage level in 2010 was only 33 percent of the average salary, which is 4 percent lower than that of the OECD average of 37 percent, indicating that the country needs to lift the state-determined minimum salary level.
Also, almost one in 10 employers in 2011 offered pay lower than the state-determined minimum salary to their employees, according to data by the country's labor ministry, obstructing efforts to address income and wealth inequality. (Yonhap)
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