[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] The business community has once again expressed concerns over the draft Enforcement Decree of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which is scheduled to be submitted to the Cabinet meeting.
The Korea Employers Federation issued a statement on the 27th, saying, "The draft Enforcement Decree of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which the government has been promoting, passed the Vice-Ministerial Meeting on the 24th and is now scheduled to be submitted to the Cabinet meeting on the 28th. This draft Enforcement Decree does not specifically clarify the obligations that management officials must comply with, thus it has limitations in resolving legal ambiguities."
The Federation emphasized, "Since the obligation of management officials to ensure safety and health under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act is directly linked to very severe penalties, including imprisonment for more than one year upon violation, it should be clearly stipulated more than any other law. Nevertheless, the legislative process is proceeding without sufficiently reviewing and reflecting the demands of the industrial sector, which causes deep concern among the business community."
They continued, "If the deficiencies of the draft Enforcement Decree are not resolved even at the Cabinet meeting and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act is enforced, confusion at the field level will be inevitable. The business community requests that the Cabinet meeting carefully review the draft Enforcement Decree once again and revise and supplement it to enhance the effectiveness of serious accident prevention while preventing unreasonable cases where diligent managers are unfairly punished."
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