Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in South Korea would receive a wage increase by next year, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has said in a report.

According to the statement from DoLE, the South Korean government agreed to increase the daily minimum wage of its workers from 4,110 Korean won (P158) per hour to 4,320 (P166).

The increase, which is roughly worth P8, would be implemented on January 1 1021, and would cover migrant workers under Korea’s Employment Permit System (EPS).

“OFWs in South Korea under the EPS are covered by the hourly wage hike in parity with the native Korean workforce, based on the non-discriminatory provisions of Korea’s labor and employment standards and laws,” Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said in a statement.

The South Korean government passed three laws last 2007 protecting the rights of OFWs, according to early news reports. Among the benefits provided by the laws are retirement pay and a minimum wage.

At least 14,851 migrant workers have been deployed in the Korean peninsula in 2009, 12,367 in 2008, and 14,265 in 2007, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) showed in its recent statistics.