WAGE DETECTIVE · Price Detective
Where did the money paid for my work go?
AFFORDABILITY BOTTLENECK
Labour has a price too: when each subcontract tier keeps a share between the client’s rate and the worker’s pay, the work exists but the pay does not reach people.
A hypothetical: a client pays ₩4.8m and you earn ₩2.4m — the ₩2.4m gap is not all profit. It holds employer social insurance, severance accrual, seats, equipment, systems, supervisors, training, head office and margin. We split the gap into parts and leave undisclosed parts as “unknown”.
LABOR MONEY FLOW
Of the ₩2,400,000 gap between the client’s ₩4,800,000 and your ₩2,400,000, ₩453,618 is statutory employer cost. The remaining ₩1,946,382 covers operations, management, head office and margin; its split is not yet known.
MULTI-TIER WAGE WATERFALL
What each tier keeps is its costs (insurance, management, equipment, sales) plus margin. The step just above the worker includes statutory employer insurance and severance (about 18–19% of pay, excluding accident insurance). Many tiers are not illegal in themselves, but tiers with no stated function are worth questioning.
COMPANY CASE
The filing shows most client money going to labour and operating costs, with a 3.7% operating margin — but not what any one contract paid per agent. We split dividends among the largest holder, the group holding company and minority holders, alongside executive pay and related-party trade. Read the Hyosung ITX case
BY INDUSTRY
NORMAL · QUESTION · CONFIRMED
LAW
Bans profiting as an intermediary in someone’s employment except as the law allows. A lawful contractor keeping costs and margin from a contract price is not, by itself, a breach; breaches are decided by the labour office or a court.
If a subcontractor cannot pay wages because of the contractor directly above it, that contractor is jointly liable — and so is any higher contractor whose fault caused it. Decree art. 24 defines the faults: not paying the contract price on time, delaying materials, or breaching terms without good reason.
In construction subcontracted twice or more, if an unlicensed subcontractor fails to pay, the contractor above is jointly liable regardless of fault; if it is also unlicensed, the nearest licensed contractor above is.
In construction, the contractor above must pay workers directly (up to the subcontract amount) when both sides agreed, when the worker holds an enforceable title, or when the subcontractor clearly cannot pay; in some cases the prime contractor can be asked directly.
For contracts in sectors, sizes and durations set by decree, the client must pay the wage portion separately each month and check last month’s wages were actually paid; the contractor may not use it for anything else, and non-payment must be reported to the ministry.
When an employer goes insolvent or a wage judgment exists, the state advances unpaid wages. A Nov 2025 amendment counts jointly liable upper contractors (LSA arts. 44, 44-2) as the "employer", and the ministry can recover the advance from them.
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