SMEs Request Extension of 'Jungcheo Act' Grace Period to Minister of Employment

Meeting with Minister Lee Jeong-sik on the 27th
34 Issues Including On-site Difficulties Reported

The small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector requested Minister Lee Jeong-sik of the Ministry of Employment and Labor to extend the grace period for the Serious Accident Punishment Act for businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik. Photo by Jang Jin-hyeong aymsdream@

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the afternoon of the 27th that it held a "Meeting with SMEs Invited by Minister Lee Jeong-sik of the Ministry of Employment and Labor" at the Federation's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul.

The meeting was attended by about 20 representatives, including Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, Lee Jeong-han, President of the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association, and heads of related associations and cooperatives. From the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Minister Lee, Choi Hyun-seok, Director of Planning and Coordination, Ryu Kyung-hee, Director of the Occupational Safety and Health Headquarters, and other relevant directors were present.

The SME representatives conveyed 34 vivid on-site difficulties related to excessive labor regulations, including the extension of the grace period for the Serious Accident Punishment Act for businesses with fewer than 50 employees, expansion of support for SME safety costs, improvement of the working hours system for rational determination and distribution of working hours, allowance and maintenance of the comprehensive wage system, abolition of the foreign workforce quota and expansion of permitted industries, and improvement of the minimum wage system. They also requested the preparation of improvement measures.

Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, emphasized, "Although some relief has been provided to SME management through the establishment of labor-management rule of law and improvement of the foreign worker employment system, there are great concerns on-site due to the application of the Serious Accident Punishment Act to 830,000 workplaces with fewer than 50 employees starting January next year." He added, "Considering the situation of small SMEs where the arrest and imprisonment of the representative inevitably lead to business closure, sufficient time and full support are necessary."

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