[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Min-jae] The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (Kbiz) announced on the 24th that it held a meeting with the newly appointed Minister of Employment and Labor, Lee Jeong-sik, and requested that he listen closely to the voices from the field of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) going forward.
At this meeting, Kbiz proposed several labor-related issues faced by SMEs, including ▲allowing monthly extended working hours limits to alleviate difficulties related to the 52-hour workweek system for small manufacturing businesses ▲establishing exemption provisions for business owners under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and expanding related government financial support ▲minimizing next year’s minimum wage increase and introducing differentiated application ▲expanding the employment quota for foreign workers.
Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of Kbiz, stated, “SMEs ranked labor regulation flexibility as the top priority policy for the next government,” and requested, “Please pay close attention to the SME field so that SMEs do not suffer difficulties due to excessive labor regulations while normalizing employment and overall management.”
Meanwhile, the newly appointed Minister of Employment and Labor, Lee Jeong-sik, was born in 1961 and graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Economics. He served as Head of Policy Headquarters, Director of the Central Research Institute, and Secretary General at the Federation of Korean Trade Unions. From April 2017 to April 2020, he served as Secretary General of the Korea Labor Foundation.
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