'One Day Before the Serious Accident Punishment Act Plenary Session' Final Appeal: "Give 830,000 Small and Medium Enterprises a Chance to Prepare"

Minister of Employment and Labor, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Minister of SMEs and Startups
Urge Legislation to Further Postpone Application of Serious Accident Punishment Act
"Damage to Employment and Jobs of 8 Million Workers"

If Postponement Bill Fails to Pass in National Assembly Plenary Session on 25th
Full Enforcement of Serious Accident Punishment Act on 27th

Ministers of related departments and heads of affiliated organizations made a final appeal ahead of the National Assembly plenary session to pass the amendment to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (hereinafter referred to as the Serious Accidents Act) for the "postponement of application to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees." They urged the postponement of the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Act, saying, "Unprepared small and medium-sized enterprises may be helplessly driven to the brink of closure."

At 9:30 a.m. on the 24th, Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, Lee Jeong-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor, and Park Sang-woo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, gathered at the Government Seoul Office to urge the enactment of an amendment for additional postponement of the application of the Serious Accidents Act.

On the 24th, (from left) Park Sang-woo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; Lee Jeong-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor; and Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups gathered at the Government Seoul Office to urge the enactment of the amendment to further postpone the application of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. (Photo by e-Briefing)

They said, "The Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly scheduled for today is the last chance to process the amendment bill for additional postponement of application to companies with fewer than 50 employees, which was proposed on September 7 last year," and added, "Ahead of this last chance, we earnestly appeal to the National Assembly once again."

The three ministers also appealed, "Over the past two years, companies with fewer than 50 employees at the site have been striving to prepare for the application of the Serious Accidents Act despite poor manpower and budget conditions," and said, "Due to unavoidable difficulties such as COVID-19 and overall economic downturn, the reality is that preparations are still insufficient." They emphasized, "If 837,000 companies with fewer than 50 employees cannot operate stably, the damage will inevitably affect the employment and jobs of 8 million workers working there." They added, "If the National Assembly swiftly processes the bill through a prompt agreement, the public and private sectors will work together to make every effort to establish a safety and health management system for companies with fewer than 50 employees during the additional postponement period through industrial safety inspections."

On the same morning, Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, also visited Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, to urge the postponement of the application of the Serious Accidents Act. Chairman Kim said to the floor leaders of both parties, "Small and medium-sized enterprises that are still unprepared have no choice but to be driven to the brink of closure, and workers will lose their jobs," and urged, "We ask the ruling and opposition parties to stop political strife and resume discussions at the level of people’s livelihood so that the postponement bill can be passed at the plenary session on the 25th."

On the morning of the 24th, Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, met with Yoon Jae-ok, Floor Leader of the People Power Party, urging the postponement of the application of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. (Photo by Korea Federation of SMEs)

As the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Act approaches, voices calling for postponement of its application are growing louder across various sectors. The day before, major economic organizations such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea Employers Federation, the Korea Federation of Employers, the Korea International Trade Association, and the Korea Federation of Medium-sized Enterprises issued a joint statement at the National Assembly urging the postponement of the application of the Serious Accidents Act.

They argued, "The fundamental purpose of the Serious Accidents Act is not to punish business owners but to reduce serious accidents through industrial accident prevention," and added, "Rather than strengthening punishment through the enforcement of the law, discussing ways for workplaces to find improvement measures themselves during the postponement period is the most realistic approach to accident prevention."

Meanwhile, the Serious Accidents Act, which has been enforced since January 27, 2022, stipulates that if a serious accident such as a worker’s death occurs at workplaces with 50 or more employees, business owners who fail to fulfill accident prevention duties shall be punished with imprisonment for more than one year or a fine of up to 1 billion KRW. At the time of the law’s enactment, enforcement was postponed for two years for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees.

Last year, a bill was proposed to postpone the application of the Serious Accidents Act for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees for an additional two years due to insufficient preparation at the site. However, the positions of the government and ruling party, business community, opposition party, and labor sector sharply diverged, and the related bill failed to pass the December extraordinary session of the National Assembly. If the postponement bill is not passed at the January plenary session on the 25th, the Serious Accidents Act will be fully enforced for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees starting on the 27th.

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