Based on Article 24 of Labour Standards Act, wage must be paid in cash, in full amount and directly to the workers themselves. This excludes payment to parents or relatives. The important principles of the provisions of the Article are as follows:
① cash payments
② direct payments to the employees (to the bank accounts which the employee designate)
③ full payments
Wage payments must be made at least once a month on a designated date, excluding bonus payments, or extraordinary payments. Deductions from salary payments may be made only if there exists a labour-management agreement with a majority labour union, or with the representative of the majority of the employee, in addition to the deductions of social security payments and tax payments under the check-off systems.
Do you think it is possible for the employer to make an employment contract to deduct part of the wage for breach of conduct, or damage caused by employee’s negligence in advance? The answer is definitely “NO!”, which is based on the grounds of Article 16, Labour Standards Act. In addition, neither may he or she deduct the money advanced or make any other such claim as working terms and conditions, based on Article 18, Labour Standards Act.