Small Business Owners "Oppose Application of Labor Standards Act to Fewer Than 5 Employees... Need for Industry-Specific Minimum Wage Application"

Economic, Social and Labor Council Holds Meeting with Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise
"Considering the Creation of a Platform for Social Dialogue"

On the 7th, the Economic, Social and Labor Council held a meeting with the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise on the council's main conference room. The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise is a statutory economic organization representing the economic status and rights of 7.14 million micro enterprises.

This meeting was held at the request of the Federation to listen to the difficulties faced by micro enterprises. Executives of the Federation, as well as representatives from various micro enterprise sectors such as PC rooms, boiler equipment, industrial power tools, and supermarkets, attended.

The scene of the full meeting of the Tripartite Commission held last October. Photo by Yonhap News

At this meeting, the Federation requested common industry issues including opposition to the application of the Labor Standards Act to workplaces with fewer than five employees and improvement of the minimum wage system considering the characteristics of each industry. They also called for the establishment of a social dialogue platform to discuss institutional improvements such as the abolition of weekly holiday allowances and resolving blind spots in support for low birth rates among micro enterprises.

Chairman Kwon Ki-seop of the Economic, Social and Labor Council said, "We will work together with the Federation to improve the difficult economic environment of micro enterprises," adding, "We will consider creating a social dialogue platform to discuss the issues faced by micro enterprises."

The Economic, Social and Labor Council plans to continue dialogues with various groups including youth, women, and non-regular workers in the future.

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