Joint Press Conference "Blaming All Responsibility on Management"
"A Fatal Bill for Small Businesses, Please Consider the Reality"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] Eight economic organizations, including the Korea Employers Federation (KEF), appealed that the "Serious Accident Punishment Act" is "an excessively burdensome over-legislation from the perspective of the business community."
These economic organizations held a press conference on the 22nd at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in Yeouido, Seoul, stating, "We appeal to halt the enactment of the Serious Accident Punishment Act so that companies can overcome the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis and focus on job creation."
At the press conference, KEF Chairman Kyung-sik Son, Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business Chairman Ki-moon Kim, Korea International Trade Association Chairman Young-joo Kim, Korea Specialty Contractors Association Chairman Young-yoon Kim, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Executive Vice Chairman Tae-hee Woo, Federation of Korean Industries Executive Vice Chairman Tae-shin Kwon, Korea Association of Mid-sized Enterprises Executive Vice Chairman Won-ik Ban, and the Korea Construction Association were present.
Ki-moon Kim, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, said in a statement, "We deeply agree that human life and safety are precious and that serious accident prevention is necessary," but pointed out, "However, the Serious Accident Punishment Act places all responsibility for occurrence on the management."
He continued, "This bill stipulates quadruple punishments including criminal penalties for representatives, corporate fines, administrative sanctions, and punitive damages," adding, "Under the currently enforced Industrial Safety and Health Act, representatives can be sentenced to imprisonment for up to seven years, but the newly proposed bills impose minimum imprisonment terms ranging from two to five years despite being negligence offenses. This is harsher than the United States and Japan, where imprisonment terms are less than six months, and especially severe compared to the UK’s Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act, the model for the Serious Accident Punishment Act, which imposes corporate fines rather than business owner penalties."
Chairman Kim raised his voice, saying, "Currently, there are as many as 1,222 mandatory provisions that business owners must comply with under the Industrial Safety and Health Act," and "If the Serious Accident Punishment Act is enacted on top of this, companies will be unable to cope."
He also said, "The reality of small and medium enterprises must be considered. 99% of SMEs have owners who are also representatives," and "While large corporations are major victims of the bill, 6.63 million SMEs are the greatest victims because, in the subcontracting structure, SMEs ultimately bear primary responsibility for safety."
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