On the 31st, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses held a press conference in front of the National Assembly to appeal for a postponement of the application of the Serious Disaster Punishment Act to companies with less than 50 employees. The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises said, “We even promised that we would not request any further extension if the application of the law is postponed for two years, but the National Assembly is ignoring the earnest demands of the small and medium-sized business community without even submitting the bill.”
On this day, 17 cooperatives and organizations from the small and medium-sized business and construction industry, including the Korea Federation of SMEs and Startups, participated in the press conference. The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises estimated that about 3,000 small and medium-sized business representatives from all over the country attended.
The Serious Accident Act began to be applied to service industries such as restaurants, cafes, and supermarkets in addition to the manufacturing and construction industries, where industrial accidents are common, from the 27th, as the agreement between the ruling and opposition parties on the postponement plan failed in the National Assembly. The Serious Accident Act stipulates that if a worker dies or suffers a serious injury while working, the employer will be punished if he or she fails to take sufficient preventive measures.
In a statement on this day, they said, “As the Serious Accident Punishment Act was fully applied to small businesses with less than 50 employees, more than 830,000 small and medium-sized businesses and small business owners were instantly reduced to potential criminals,” and “More than 80% of small and medium-sized manufacturing and construction companies are subject to the Serious Accident Punishment Act.” “We were unable to prepare, and small business owners do not even know if they are subject to the law,” he complained. In addition, “The small and medium-sized business community issued statements requesting a delay in applying the law more than ten times and visited the National Assembly several times to appeal for more preparation time, but the National Assembly did not even submit the bill and ignored the earnest demands of the small and medium-sized business community. “There is,” he claimed.
He continued, “Small and medium-sized businesses are crying out that they would rather go out of business than run a business with the risk of going to jail.” He continued, “Politicians should focus only on the livelihood of the people, regardless of party interests, and must pass the bill to suspend the Serious Accident Punishment Act for 2 years for workplaces with less than 50 employees.” “I strongly urge you to give it,” he said.
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