The hourly rate doesn't decide a minimum-wage violation — the hours you divide by do

₩380. That is how much next year's minimum hourly wage rises, less than a cup of coffee. But in a monthly salary this ₩380 is ₩79,420, and over a year ₩953,040. Pocket change per hour, a month's rent per year. For someone working at minimum wage, this number is their annual raise. And it is already final. It is not waiting on parliament or on an announcement. Yet ask for this rate today and you would be wrong. Between 'decided' and 'applied' sits the effective date: January 1, 2027.

The 2027 minimum wage is ₩10,700 an hour. The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced it on August 5, 2026, and it applies from January 1 to December 31, 2027. The minimum wage does not go through the National Assembly: the Minimum Wage Commission deliberates and votes, the Minister announces it, and that is the end. This year the vote came on July 14 and the announcement on August 5, so there is nothing left to wait for. Four steps: ① from when, and how much; ② what is it as a monthly salary; ③ who can be paid less; ④ what happens if you are underpaid.

Step one: timing. The minimum hourly wage at this moment is ₩10,320, and it stays that way through December 31, 2026. ₩10,700 starts January 1, 2027. The raise is ₩380, an official 3.7% (computing straight from the two rates gives 3.68%; the published figure is rounded). Seeing ₩10,700 in the news and demanding it now is wrong; paying the old rate in January is the employer being wrong. The dividing line is a single day, January 1. The basis is the day worked, not the payday: December hours are paid at the old rate, January hours at the new one. Money earned in December and paid in January is at the old rate.

Step two: the salary. ₩10,700 × 8 hours = a daily wage of ₩85,600. The monthly figure multiplies by 209 hours: ₩2,236,300, the official monthly equivalent printed in the notice. Why 209? Work 40 hours a week and the law adds 8 paid weekly-rest hours, so you are paid for 48 hours a week, which converts to 209 hours a month. The same 209 hours are used when judging a violation. This year's monthly equivalent was ₩2,156,880, and the gap is the ₩79,420 from the opening.

One thing to watch. When checking whether your pay clears the floor, you do not look at base pay alone: wages paid regularly at least once a month count toward it. Conversely, allowances earned outside scheduled hours (overtime, night work) do not count (Minimum Wage Act Art. 6(4)). Adding those in and calling the floor cleared is wrong.

Step three: who can be paid less. There is exactly one lawful way to pay below minimum wage, probation, and all three conditions must hold. ① An employment contract of 1 year or more: a 6-month contract or a short-term job with no fixed term does not qualify. ② Only the first 3 months from the start of probation. From month four it is the full rate. ③ At most 10% off, as the Decree provides. On next year's rate no probationer can be paid below ₩9,630, and this year's probation floor is ₩10,320 × 90% = ₩9,288. One more exception: in simple-labor occupations designated by the Minister, no reduction is allowed even during probation, and the full rate applies from day one. If a job posting says '3-month probation at 90%', check the contract term first. On a contract shorter than 1 year, that reduction does not stand.

Step four: what if you are underpaid? If the contract says ₩10,000 an hour and you signed it, that part is void. Minimum Wage Act Art. 6(3) says so directly: any part of a wage set below the minimum wage is void, and the void part is deemed to provide a wage equal to the minimum wage. Even if you signed. What is void is only the shortfall, not the whole contract, so you keep working and claim the difference. This is not picking a fight; it is claiming a difference the law has already fixed. If the company will not talk, you can file a complaint with the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

There is one trap when judging. Convert a salary back to an hourly rate by dividing by 174 hours instead of 209 and the rate inflates by about 20%. That number leaves out the weekly-rest hours, so a violation looks legal. At 40 hours a week, divide by 209.

Before it takes effect on January 1, 2027, three things to check. ① If you work part-time or on contract, confirm the new rate applies from your January pay; on a salary, ₩2,236,300 is the new floor. ② If you have a contract renewal or salary negotiation at year-end, look at the contract's start date. If it covers January 1 onward, the new minimum wage is the benchmark. ③ If you are an employer, check now the January formula for hourly staff and whether any salaried staff fall under the new floor, so January is not a scramble. The week straddling late December and early January splits by day worked. December and January pay slips should show different rates. If they match, one of them is wrong.

Two things to do now. ① Compare your hourly rate or salary against both years' numbers. ② When your first January pay slip arrives, check that the rate changed. Today covered only the typical case: the detailed scope of countable wages, industries with separate rules such as taxis, and piece-rate pay are calculated differently, so if there is a dispute, check with the Ministry or a professional. ₩380 looks small, but the law for collecting it is already written.