SMEs "Deferral of Medium-Size Workplace Act for Businesses with Fewer Than 50 Employees Is Most Urgent"

Survey of 300 Small and Medium Manufacturing Companies

Among the bills related to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the ‘Serious Accidents Punishment Act,’ which extends the grace period for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, was selected as the most urgent bill to pass through the National Assembly.

Representatives of small and medium-sized enterprise organizations, including the Korea Federation of SMEs and the Korea Specialty Contractors Association, held a press briefing on August 31 at the Korea Federation of SMEs to urge the extension of the grace period for applying the Serious Accidents Punishment Act to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees. Jung Yun-mo, Vice Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, is reading a statement. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced the results of a survey titled ‘What We Want from the Government and the National Assembly,’ conducted from the 2nd to the 13th of this month targeting 300 small manufacturing companies, on the 19th.

In the question evaluating the 21st National Assembly’s four years from the perspective of SMEs, 46.0% responded ‘poorly,’ which was significantly higher than the 3.0% who responded ‘well.’

Among the SME-related bills currently pending in the National Assembly, the most urgent bill to be passed was the ‘Serious Accidents Punishment Act,’ which extends the grace period for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, at 47.0%. This was followed by the ‘Restriction of Special Taxation Act and Inheritance and Gift Tax Act’ related to corporate succession, including the extension of installment payment periods for gift tax, at 37.7%, and the ‘Win-Win Cooperation Promotion Act,’ which includes major expenses such as electricity fees in the scope of linked payment prices, at 29.7%.

The top priorities to be addressed first by the 21st National Assembly were ‘expanding labor market flexibility and establishing stable labor-management relations’ (29.0%), ‘tax system improvements to revitalize investment and enhance corporate competitiveness’ (21.7%), and ‘prompt passage of regulatory innovation-related bills’ (20.3%).

Choo Moon-gap, Head of the Economic Policy Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, “There is little time left in the final regular session of the 21st National Assembly, yet many SME-related bills are still waiting to be passed. Especially, the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and corporate succession-related laws act as killer regulations for SMEs, so we hope that the ruling and opposition parties cooperate to ensure these bills are passed during the regular session to help recover the livelihood economy.”

Regarding areas experiencing difficulties due to regulations, ‘labor regulations’ ranked first at 44.7%, followed by ‘environmental regulations’ (25.3%), ‘certification regulations’ (21.3%), and ‘financial and tax-related regulations’ (15.3%).

Regarding the government’s regulatory reform efforts, 65.3% responded that they ‘do not feel any impact.’ The main reason for this lack of awareness was ‘insufficient recognition of the content of regulatory reforms,’ at 50.8%.

In response to the question, ‘If regulations are eased, do you have investment plans within three years?’ 60.3% answered ‘No.’ The reasons for not having investment plans included ‘excess existing facilities’ (29.3%), ‘sluggish domestic demand’ (28.2%), and ‘difficulty in raising funds’ (26.0%).

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