Migrant laborers in South Korea work an average of 50 hours a week, while pay and conditions are worse for women, a new report has found.
According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 24-point-six percent of workers in the country with the E9, H2 or F4 visas worked longer than the legal limit of 52 hours a week, including overtime.
The study surveyed close to 15-hundred people who were selected in consideration of nationality, gender and line of work, and 20-point-seven percent said they were working over 60 hours weekly.
In comparing men and women, 19-point-three percent of male migrant workers work over 60 hours a week, compared to 24-point-one percent of women.
The average monthly wage dropped to about one-point-eight million in 2020 with the start of the pandemic, compared to two-point-one million in late 2019.
Women were paid less with their average monthly salary coming to one-point-95 million won, compared to two-point-18 million won for men. Additionally, two-point-three percent of female migrant workers said they have been sexually harassed or assaulted at work.