Heavier Sanan Act Penalties... "Excessive Burden on Companies" Causes Discomfort in the Business Community

[Asia Economy Reporter Sung Ki-ho] The business community has expressed considerable dismay over the Supreme Court Sentencing Commission's significant strengthening of sentencing guidelines for fatal accidents caused by violations of safety and health obligations under the Industrial Safety and Health Act. This reaction is particularly strong as the Serious Accident Punishment Act, which punishes companies and executives for industrial accidents, was passed by the National Assembly just recently, leading the business sector to protest what they see as double punishment.

According to the legal community on the 12th, the Supreme Court Sentencing Commission held its 107th plenary session the day before and revised the sentencing guidelines for crimes violating the Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHA).

The Sentencing Commission raised the recommended basic sentencing range for ISHA violation crimes from the previous imprisonment of 6 months to 1 year and 6 months to imprisonment of 1 year to 2 years and 6 months. Furthermore, if two or more special aggravating factors exist, it recommended sentencing up to the statutory maximum of 7 years imprisonment, and for multiple offenders or repeat offenses within 5 years, sentencing up to 10 years and 6 months.

Additionally, the scope of the sentencing guidelines was expanded from only cases where a person died due to violation of industrial safety and health obligations to include ▲ cases where a death occurred due to a violation of safety and health obligations by a contractor ▲ cases where the deceased was a field trainee ▲ cases where fatal crimes recurred within 5 years.

The business community is opposing the Supreme Court Sentencing Commission’s decision. A business official stated, "With the significant increase in sentencing under the ISHA, the punishment level is now very similar to that of the recently passed Serious Accident Punishment Act. If this is the case, I do not understand why the Serious Accident Punishment Act was newly enacted."

The ISHA sentencing guidelines will undergo public opinion collection from civic groups and research institutions, as well as public hearings, until next month, and will be finally confirmed and approved at the plenary session on March 29. The Sentencing Commission also plans to set the enforcement date. The finalized sentencing guidelines will be published in the official gazette within a month and will be enforced thereafter. This means the strengthened ISHA sentencing guidelines could be applied before the Serious Accident Punishment Act, which has a one-year grace period, comes into effect.

Lim Woo-taek, Head of Safety and Health at the Korea Employers Federation, said, "Following the Serious Accident Punishment Act, the sentencing guidelines for the ISHA have been raised, increasing the burden on companies. Companies will suffer double hardship with the Serious Accident Punishment Act to be enforced a year later after the ISHA."

He added, "We will actively express our opinions during the upcoming public consultation process."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.