By Kang Seung-woo
Staff reporter
Lee Seung-hyup has bitter memories about some of the part-time jobs he's had.
For five months, Lee, a 29-year-old studying for an exam to be a certified public accountant (CPA), worked as a supervisor for a private library, where people pay to rent a desk for studying space. When he quit last month, he wasn't paid the money he was promised. What he got was less than the minimum wage.
"The minimum wage is 4,110 won per hour, but I made much less," he said.
Lee is not alone. This year, three out of 10 part-time employees are paid below minimum wage.
Albaro, a portal website for part-time jobs, said Thursday that 225 of 603 part-time workers or 37.3 percent said they did not get the guaranteed payment.
The current minimum wage is set at 4,110 won per hour and it has been revised to increase 5.1 percent to 4,320 won next year.
"I did not know the minimum wage until after I started work there," Lee said. "But there was nothing I could do because I had to make money as soon as possible."
Many part-time workers were in the same position as Lee, unable to press their demands with employers.
According to the survey, 119 respondents found that they earned less money than the standard, but they continued working because they needed to be making money.
In addition, the workers' lack of knowledge about the minimum wage was also attributed to their failure to get what they should have been entitled to.
Only 69 quit after their employer refused to pay the minimum wage.
"To prevent this kind of problem, they have to sign an employment contract before beginning part-time jobs," said an official of Career, a local job portal website. "If you are not guaranteed the minimum wage, you need to complain to the Labor Ministry."
Meanwhile, 411 respondents said that the minimum wage of 4,320 won for 2011 is still too low, saying they should receive at least 5,300 won.
The survey showed that 97 employers out of 193 or 50.3 percent said next year's minimum wage is too high.