The amount of unpaid wages exceeds 2 trillion won... Sanctions for business owners who habitually default on payments are decreasing

Punishment must be strengthened, list must be disclosed, and credit sanctions must be implemented.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Noh Seon-woong = Nationally, the amount of unpaid wages is increasing every year, with the amount of unpaid wages exceeding 2 trillion won last year, but the number of major sanctions against business owners with habitual non-payment appears to have decreased.

According to data on 'Status of unpaid wages over the past five years' submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ki-hyun, a member of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee on the 20th, the amount of unpaid wages last year amounted to 2.06 trillion won.

The amount of arrears by year showed an increase from KRW 1.314 trillion in 2021 and KRW 1.3101 trillion in 2022 to KRW 1.7266 trillion in 2023 and KRW 1.9424 trillion in 2024, exceeding KRW 2 trillion for the first time last year. This year, as of June, it was calculated that 924.7 billion won in arrears had occurred at over 47,000 workplaces.

On the other hand, it was found that sanctions against business owners in arrears have decreased or are below the rate of increase in arrears. The amount of judicial processing only increased slightly from 573.8 billion won in 2021 to 653.1 billion won last year.

The number of cases of disclosure of names of business owners with habitual non-payment decreased from 265 cases in 2023 and 288 cases in 2024 to 51 cases last year. During the same period, the number of credit sanctions also decreased from 530 in 2023 to 80 last year.

Rep. Kim said, “The fact that the amount of arrears is increasing every year is evidence of the lack of effectiveness of the current sanctions system,” and added, “The Ministry of Employment and Labor must strengthen the level of punishment for employers with habitual non-payment and prepare measures by actively implementing sanctions such as disclosure of names and credit sanctions.”