SME Industry Meets Minister of Employment and Labor, Urges "Abolish Foreign Worker Entry Quota"

Korea Federation of SMEs Holds Meeting with Minister Lee Jeong-sik on 28th
Proposes Flexibility in 52-Hour Workweek Including Overtime

Kim Ki-moon, President of the Korea Federation of SMEs / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector has requested the Ministry of Employment and Labor to ease labor regulations, including relaxing the 52-hour workweek system and abolishing the foreign worker entry quota.

The Korea Federation of SMEs held a "Meeting with Minister Lee Jeong-sik of the Ministry of Employment and Labor and SME Representatives" on the 28th at the Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul. About 30 people attended, including Kim Ki-moon, chairman of the Federation of SMEs, Minister Lee, heads of SME organizations, chairpersons of SME cooperatives, and officials from the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

At the meeting, the industry proposed 27 pending issues, including △introducing monthly extended working hours and flexibilizing the extended working hours system △abolishing the sunset clause on the additional 8-hour extended work system △reforming the foreign workforce introduction system.

Kim Moon-sik, chairman of the Korea Gas Station Operators Cooperative, conveyed the voices from the field, saying, "Although the 52-hour workweek system has been fully implemented for over a year, many SMEs still find it difficult to comply because they cannot find enough workers, and employees are dissatisfied as their overtime pay has decreased." He emphasized, "If both labor and management agree, the extended working hours system should be made flexible to allow work beyond 52 hours per week."

Ko Byung-heon, chairman of the Korea Amusement Industry Cooperative, said, "The labor shortage felt on the ground is severe, and due to the trends of low birthrate and aging population, general support policies have limitations," adding, "The annual foreign worker entry quota should be abolished, and employment limits for individual companies should be removed."

The Ministry of Employment and Labor held a Foreign Workforce Policy Committee meeting on the 25th and set the number of foreign workers (E-9 visa) to be introduced next year at 110,000, an increase of 41,000 from this year. The industry is calling not only for an expansion of foreign workforce introduction but also for fundamental changes to the system.

Lee Jeong-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor [Photo by Yonhap News]

At the meeting, there was also a call to add software development and cultural content design tasks to the 'discretionary work system' that can be introduced through labor-management agreement.

The Labor Standards Act stipulates that when the nature of the work requires delegating the method of performance to the discretion of the worker, the discretionary work system can be introduced through labor-management agreement.

However, the scope of tasks eligible for the discretionary work system is very limited, and there are many restrictions such as applying it only to some employees during collaborative work processes, resulting in a utilization rate of only 0.9% (Business Labor Force Survey, June 2021), leading to criticism that the system is ineffective.

Additionally, the industry requested △improvements to the minimum wage system △expansion of the scope of permitted dispatched labor △prevention of illegal union activities and establishment of fair labor-management relations. Chairman Kim stated, "The unprecedented labor shortage is exacerbating difficulties for SMEs," and added, "We hope that labor regulations such as the 52-hour workweek system will be boldly eased and that fundamental solutions like abolishing the foreign workforce quota will be actively accepted."

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