"92 Hours of Overtime, 6,520,000 KRW Salary" Sanitation Worker Payslip Certification... "Not an Impossible Amount"

[Financial News]  Recently, a payslip of an 11-year veteran sanitation worker was posted on an online community, becoming a hot topic. It stated that even after deducting various taxes and insurance fees, they received 5,427,290 KRW (pre-tax 6,529,930 KRW). It included a base salary of 2,507,970 KRW, year-end bonus (1,303,980 KRW), driving allowance (300,000 KRW), family allowance (160,000 KRW), and pollution allowance (100,000 KRW).

However, the overtime was 92 hours, holiday work was 2 days, and extra work was 19 hours, resulting in an additional allowance of 2,125,980 KRW.

The authenticity of the payslip has not been confirmed, but current sanitation workers said, "When work piles up, we sometimes do that much overtime. It's not an impossible amount." In response, online comments included "It's not much considering the hard work" and "I thought it was at a large company level just by looking at the net amount, but was shocked by the 92 hours of overtime."

According to Seoul city and others on the 13th, sanitation workers are hired under the name 'Environmental Public Officer' in 25 districts of Seoul. They are permanent contract workers affiliated with the district office. They clean streets, public toilets, collect recyclables, etc. There are about 2,580 in Seoul alone.

Salaries are operated on a grade system like public officials, from grade 1 to grade 30. As of 2025, the base salary for grade 1 is 1,888,840 KRW per month (pre-tax).

In addition, they receive family allowance, year-end bonus, physical training expenses, driving allowance, pollution allowance, risk allowance, etc. The amount is less in rural areas. There is also a union that negotiates wages with local governments every year.

The standard working hours are 40 hours a week, 8 hours a day. They often start work early in the morning, leading to frequent night shifts.

Nevertheless, the competition rate for employment is high. Last December, 50 people applied for 10 sanitation worker positions in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. Lee Gwi-yong, head of Seoul's Environmental Affairs Division, said, "As rumors spread that environmental public jobs have good working conditions, even young people are flocking to them these days."

Depending on the circumstances of the local government, sanitation work may be outsourced to service companies, and sanitation workers affiliated with service companies are known to earn about two-thirds of the salary of those affiliated with local governments.


gaa1003@fnnews.com Ahn Gaeul Reporter