Filipino caregivers arrive at Incheon International Airport, Aug. 6, as part of Korea's pilot project to provide foreign workers for child care. Joint Press Corps

The Filipino caregivers, who were brought to Korea as part of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's domestic worker program, are expected to receive about 1.8 million won ($1,340) on average after their first month, officials said Tuesday.

According to the city government, their contracts guarantee that each domestic worker will be given at least 30 hours of work per week, which means a monthly pay of 1,540,000 won for September at the minimum.

Some of them will earn as much as 2,290,000 won, given that they can choose to work up to 52 hours a week and that extra pay will be given for overtime and holiday work.

Of the 98 workers currently participating, 85 work 40 hours or more a week, officials said.

The exact wage for each worker will be determined in the middle of this month.

After receiving four weeks of training, the workers have been sent to 169 households in the capital since Sept. 3 as full-time or part-time caregiving service providers. This project is one of the key policies Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon introduced to help alleviate Korea's fertility crisis.

A hundred domestic workers arrived in Korea from the Philippines under the six-month pilot program on Aug. 6. But the following month, officials lost contact with two of them, who apparently went to the southeastern city of Busan for higher-paying jobs. They now face deportation for violating Korea's immigration laws.

In the wake of the incident, officials held an emergency meeting this month to revise some rules to improve the program. Notable changes include allowing workers to receive their wages twice a month (on the 10th and 20th) instead of once (the 20th) for those who wish and extending their E-9 visas after the trial period.

City and central government officials plan to expand the program by hiring an additional 1,200 such workers from the Philippines next year. However, concerns remain over issues such as high prices and a potential increase in the number of undocumented migrants here.

Currently, the cost of hiring a full-time worker, including social insurance fees, is 2,060,000 won a month. This is deemed too high for most Korean households, which, on average, earn 5.44 million won a month.

Moreover, the legal minimum wage will continue to increase — to 100,030 won next year — and firms taking part in the project are also expected to raise their service charges once it gets expanded.