Korea Federation of SMEs to Hold '2024 New Year Press Briefing' on the Morning of the 22nd
Presenting SME Sector Recommendations to the 22nd National Assembly
The small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector has decided to consider filing a constitutional complaint if the exemption for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (Serious Accident Punishment Act) is not passed in the February plenary session of the National Assembly. Despite continuous appeals, if the National Assembly does not respond, they plan to explore various countermeasures, including legal actions.
On the 22nd, the Korea Federation of SMEs held the '2024 New Year Press Conference' and announced this stance. The Federation plans to consider filing a constitutional complaint against the Serious Accident Punishment Act if the exemption bill is not passed at the plenary session scheduled for the 29th. Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Federation, said, "The Occupational Safety and Health Act also has mandatory and penalty provisions, but the only thing missing is 'imprisonment for more than one year,'" adding, "This toxic clause is causing fear among SMEs and small business owners." He continued, "After consulting with labor law specialists and law firms, there is a strong opinion that it is likely unconstitutional, so we decided to file a constitutional complaint in consultation with SME organizations. We have one last hope for the National Assembly plenary session on the 29th to reflect the opinions of the SME sector and to see if the enforcement of the Serious Accident Punishment Act will be postponed. If the postponement fails, we will discuss whether to take collective action by SME organizations."
Since 80% of workplaces with fewer than 50 employees are unprepared for the Serious Accident Punishment Act, the SME sector believes that serious side effects such as closures of small businesses and job losses among workers may occur after the law is applied. If a serious accident such as a death or injury requiring more than six months of treatment to two or more people occurs at an unprepared workplace with fewer than 50 employees, the business owner could face imprisonment for more than one year.
The Korea Federation of SMEs has conveyed its concerns about the difficulties faced by small businesses due to the Serious Accident Punishment Act through meetings with ruling and opposition floor leaders, issuing over ten statements, and a petition campaign with more than 53,000 signatures. Since January 27, when workplaces with fewer than 50 employees became subject to the Act, they have held consecutive resolution rallies in the National Assembly, the metropolitan area, and the Honam region, urging the National Assembly to submit the postponement bill to the plenary session. More than 13,000 small business owners attended these three rallies. Chairman Kim said, "Holding three resolution rallies for the Serious Accident Punishment Act and demonstrating our strong will through a sound and orderly assembly culture that does not harm the public or the nation was very meaningful," and added, "Please ensure the postponement bill for the Serious Accident Punishment Act is passed at the National Assembly plenary session on the 29th."
On this day, the SME sector also announced recommendations for the 22nd National Assembly ahead of the April general election. The core agenda of these recommendations includes promoting SME innovation, restoring labor market balance, establishing a foundation for fairness and coexistence, supporting SME business opportunities, and revitalizing livelihood recovery and cooperation. Specifically, the industry emphasized the urgent need for a policy paradigm shift through the revision of related SME laws, as the difficulties faced by SMEs, recognized as a solution for Korea's economic growth, persist. Additionally, they proposed ten key policy tasks to the National Assembly, including system improvements to activate business succession, productivity enhancement promotion, labor market regulatory innovation, alleviation of manpower shortages, inclusion of energy costs such as electricity fees in delivery price linkage, introduction of an SME win-win finance index, establishment of a third-party restructuring institution, support for expanding domestic and overseas sales channels, and transforming SME cooperatives into regional economic growth platforms. Chairman Kim stated, "Politicians, regardless of party or ideology, must show real action rather than words so that the people can prepare for the future together."
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