There are problems in life that we do not anticipate. Thus, in many cases, workers must ask for wage advance to make ends meet. So, what does the law say about this issue?
REGULATIONS ON WAGE AND WAGE ADVANCE
As stipulated by law, labor relations are social relations that arise in hiring or employing laborers and employers have to pay wages to employees. Wage is a monetary amount which is paid by an employer to an employee to do a job as agreed by the two parties. Wage includes a wage amount which is based on the work or title, wage allowance(s) and other additional payments.
In addition, pursuant to Clause 1 of Article 100 of the Labor Code 2012, regulations on wage advance shall be as follows: “An employee may be given a wage in advance according to the conditions agreed upon by the two parties.” Moreover, Clause 2, Article 100 of the Labor Code stipulates: “An employer shall advance a wage amount to an employee corresponding to the number of days off which the employee takes to perform citizens’ obligations from 1 week to 1 month at most. The employee shall refund this advance amount, except the case that he/she performs military services.”
Thus, it can be understood that the employee wishing to get a wage advance is only required to negotiate with the employer in accordance with the conditions agreed upon by the two parties. In case of no agreement, the employee can only get wage advance when performing citizens’ obligations for one week or more. The wage level must be based on the actual number of days off which the employee takes but must not exceed one month’s wage. In this case, the employee can only be given wage advance when he/ she performs his/ her citizen’s duty; however, if the employee performs his/ her military service, he/ she shall not be given wage advance because he/ she must take leave for a long time and he/ she is guaranteed by the state budget.
THOUGH SUSPENDED FROM WORK, EMPLOYEES ARE ENTITLED TO WAGE ADVANCE
When an employee is disciplined, the employer shall have the right to temporarily suspend the work of the employee. In this case, the period of work suspension must not exceed 15 days, or 90 days in special cases.
According to Article 129 of the Labor Code, during the period of work suspension, the employee is entitled to 50 per cent of the wage he/she receives prior to the suspension. In case the employee is disciplined, he/she is not required to reimburse the wage advanced to him/her. In case the employee is not disciplined, the employer shall pay the full wage for the period of work suspension.
We can see that the law clearly regulates this issue. If an employee wishes to receive a wage advance in the event of an emergency, he /she must clearly inform the employer so that the two parties can negotiate. If no agreement is able to be reached, the employee must be in one of the two cases of temporary leave to perform his/ her civil obligations or be suspended from work.
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