[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Samsung Electronics' Suwon plant has made the ‘5 major safety regulations,’ including the prohibition of smartphone use while walking or driving, mandatory. This is a measure to create a safe workplace in response to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. The atmosphere within the workplace has also changed this year as the recommendation in 2016 to refrain from using mobile phones while walking was changed to a mandatory regulation. The atmosphere has become uncomfortable as uniformed contracted workers were hired to take on the role of ‘monitors’ to enforce this.
Although it is a measure to prevent safety accidents, monitoring to prohibit the use of mobile phones within the workplace is not a drastic measure to prevent possible accidents. However, since it is ambiguous whether a serious industrial accident is due to individual negligence or the company’s failure to implement basic safety and health measures, companies needed at least a minimal device to avoid responsibility under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. Whether these devices have practical effectiveness in solving actual problems is another matter, but first, they need to produce some kind of ‘showcase’ effect in response to regulations.
More than 100 days have passed since the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, but the overall evaluation of the law remains cold. Serious accident incidents continue to occur almost daily, and companies are focusing more on creating avoidance devices to evade punishment rather than taking practical measures to prevent accidents. According to a recent survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, only 30.7% of companies responded that they understand and can respond to the contents of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, while 68.7% said they do not understand the law and are struggling to respond to it. Foreign companies operating in Korea complain that they have difficulty recruiting management executives willing to take legal responsibility in the event of an accident.
It is not only the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. The 52-hour workweek system, one of the representative corporate regulations created by the previous administration, is also leading to additional measures for companies to avoid responsibility, but it is being criticized for producing only an ineffective ‘showcase’ effect. Without flexibility in working hours according to job or industry characteristics, confining working hours within the 52-hour workweek framework is causing side effects.
Companies focusing on research and development (R&D) to lead fierce technological competitiveness are experiencing slower technological development due to the 52-hour workweek system, and employees frequently submit leave requests but still come to work to avoid the company being penalized. In fact, a survey conducted by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business on the implementation of the 52-hour workweek system and opinions on system improvement found that 42.4% of responding companies reported difficulties. The most common suggestions for necessary legal and institutional improvements were to allow monthly flexibility in the limit of extended working hours (54.9%) or to expand the period and scope of the additional 8-hour extended work system (44.7%).
If the numerous worker protection measures created by the previous administration produce only unwanted results as corporate regulations without effectiveness, their side effects will directly impact the Korean economy. The perception that Korea is a minefield of corporate regulations everywhere creates an image of a country where business activities are difficult, which is not good for the new government that needs to actively attract investment. Instead of companies paying ineffective efforts and costs to avoid responsibility, they should increase production efficiency and ensure that the fruits of that efficiency are evenly distributed to workers.
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