SMEs: "Devastated by Failure to Postpone Serious Accidents Act... Must Be Reconsidered in February Assembly"

"830,000 Small Business Owners at Risk of Being Labeled Potential Criminals"

The proposal to postpone the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees for two years has ultimately failed. The small and medium-sized business community is urging that the issue be revisited during the February extraordinary session of the National Assembly.

On February 1, 17 organizations and associations representing small and medium-sized enterprises, including the Korea Federation of SMEs and the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprises, issued a statement expressing deep regret, saying, "It is extremely disappointing and devastating that the bill to postpone the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act was not even submitted to the plenary session of the National Assembly and has been scrapped."

They stated, "Yesterday, more than 3,500 small and medium-sized business owners and self-employed individuals from across the country gathered at the National Assembly, repeatedly calling for a postponement of the enforcement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act as an urgent and critical issue affecting people's livelihoods. However, with the bill's failure, over 830,000 small businesses and self-employed individuals now face the risk of being treated as potential criminals."

On the 31st, more than 3,500 small and medium-sized enterprise representatives gathered in front of the National Assembly main building, urging for a delay in the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act.

They appealed, "Amid a complex economic crisis that is rapidly worsening business sentiment among SMEs at industrial sites, adding the fear of closure due to criminal penalties is an excessively harsh measure."

They emphasized, "We, too, fully recognize that the lives and health of workers are of utmost importance, and we reaffirm our commitment to creating safer workplaces. We earnestly urge that this bill be discussed and passed during the remaining February extraordinary session of the National Assembly."

On this day, the Democratic Party of Korea rejected the government's and ruling party's mediation proposal, which was to grant a two-year postponement of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees on the condition of establishing an Industrial Safety Agency. The mediation plan proposed by the government and ruling party would have postponed the law's enforcement for two years for these workplaces, while also establishing the Industrial Safety and Health Agency, as requested by the Democratic Party, to open in two years.

The Serious Accidents Punishment Act stipulates that, in the event of a serious industrial accident resulting in death, business owners or management can face at least one year of imprisonment or a fine of up to 1 billion won. The law has been enforced for workplaces with 50 or more employees since January 27, 2022, and was extended to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees as of January 27 of this year.