Ruling Party and Government Push for 2-Year Grace Period on Serious Accident Punishment Act for Companies with Fewer Than 50 Employees

The ruling party and the government are pushing to postpone by two years the application criteria of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which was scheduled to be expanded from next month on the 27th to all workplaces with 5 or more regular workers but fewer than 50, regardless of industry.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The government, the Presidential Office, and the People Power Party announced on the 3rd at a high-level party-government meeting held at the Prime Minister's official residence in Samcheong-dong that they had agreed on this and would proceed with the amendment of the law.

The government diagnosed that "it was confirmed that the approximately 800,000 target companies had limitations in fully preparing for the full application of the law." Accordingly, the People Power Party plans to actively promote the prompt submission and discussion of the amendment to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

The ruling party and government also decided to launch a pan-government task force (TF) for comprehensive measures related to the administrative network paralysis incident and to establish and announce a comprehensive plan by January next year.

In the short term, they plan to conduct a full inspection of aging equipment, implement redundancy and grade system improvements for information system infrastructure, and establish a prevention and response control tower. In the long term, they aim to utilize various cloud methods in the public and private sectors and improve digital management capabilities in the public sector.

They also plan to innovate the informatization project system by realizing software unit prices, improving separate ordering and procurement evaluation systems, and activating participation of highly skilled companies in public informatization projects.

The ruling party and government have made it so that all students who wish to participate in the Grade 1 program (Cho1 Educare) can do so in Neulbom School (after-school education and care project), which will be expanded to 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide from next year. Neulbom School is an integrated after-school program and care service provided before and after regular classes for elementary school students.

Furthermore, they plan to expand program providers by activating participation from universities, companies, and public institutions, and to offer education and care programs that can reflect the diverse needs of students.

The People Power Party requested, "To reduce the workload at school sites, please separate existing school work and Neulbom School and secure dedicated personnel for this," and the government agreed to actively consider this.

The government plans to announce a detailed 2024 Neulbom School implementation plan within this month, including these contents.