Irregular workers are paid half the wage of regular workers for the same amount of labor. They were also “discriminated” against when it came to joining labor unions and subscribing to the national pension scheme, a governmental report suggested Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, a regular worker was paid an average of 14,388 won ($13.20) per hour as of June last year, compared to 8,236 won for irregular workers, meaning the latter receive a mere 57.2 percent of their regular counterparts’ wage. The gap was narrower among female workers and the more educated.

Though wages for irregular workers have been steadily rising ― temporary worker’s wages rose by 5.8 percent from a year earlier while that of regular workers marked 4.1 percent ― discrimination according to their term of employment is still severe, the ministry said.

Only 1.5 percent of temporary workers were members of labor unions, much lower than the 14.8 percent membership of regular workers. More regular workers also benefited from the national pension system.

However, the report showed that regular workers provided their labor for an average of 44.8 hours a week while that of irregular workers marked 37.8 hours.

(baejisook@heraldcorp.com)