Photo = Yonhap News
In addition, the Democratic Party has started working on revising the law to apply the Labor Standards Act to workplaces with fewer than five employees. There are concerns that the management environment of small workplaces will worsen and the mass dismissal of workers will occur in the aftermath of regulations following the revision of the law.
The National Assembly’s Environmental and Labor Committee (Chairman Song Ok-ju, Democratic Party member) held a plenary meeting on the 16th and proposed amendments to the Labor Standards Act, which were initiated by Democratic Party lawmakers Jun-Byeong Yoon, Lee Su-jin, and Justice Party lawmaker Kang Eun-mi respectively. The revised bill of Assemblyman Yun contains the contents of expanding the scope of application of the Labor Standards Act limited to workplaces with five or more employees to the rest of the workplaces.
For workplaces with fewer than five employees, the Labor Standards Act will be applied in relation to working hours, restrictions on overtime work, restrictions on (unfair) dismissal, written notification of reasons for dismissal, and prohibition of bullying in the workplace. It is expected that about 3.2 million small business sites consisting of mostly small business owners and self-employed businesses will be targeted. It is analyzed that the damage to PC cafes, convenience stores, and beauty salons with many overtime work will be large.
The Democratic Party plans to draw the final draft of these amendments through discussions on the bill review subcommittee and deal with them at an extraordinary National Assembly in February. Rep. Lee Soo-jin said, “It is not something to postpone as it is a long-awaited task of civil society and labor.” The National Federation of Democratic Trade Unions has continuously requested legislation from the Moon Jae-in government, calling the application of the Labor Standards Act in workplaces with fewer than five employees as the ‘Jeon Tae-il 3 Act’ along with the enactment of the Severe Accident Act and permitting the formation of unions for specially employed workers.
Self-employed and small business owners are protesting. “If the Labor Standards Act is applied uniformly to workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, it will pose a fatal threat to the management and job creation of small businessmen,” said Kim Im-yong, chairman of the Federation of Small Businessmen. It’s like fanning.”
3.2 million small workplaces targeting the’Labor Standards Act’…”
Most of self-employed and small business owners, such as working hours, vacation, and dismissal restrictions
In addition, the Democratic Party has been driving pro-labor legislation since the beginning of the year. At the end of last year, it passed a labor law that allowed the dismissed and unemployed to join the labor union, and this time, it has stepped into a legislation to expand the application of the Labor Standards Act to workplaces with fewer than five employees. The business community is protesting that it is a bill that promotes small business owners and self-employed persons at the edge of the cliff due to the Corona 19 crisis.
According to the National Assembly Agenda Information System on the 16th, Democratic Party lawmakers Yoon Jun-byung, Lee Soo-jin, and Justice Party lawmakers Kang Eun-mi, respectively, proposed an expanded amendment to the application of the Labor Standards Act, pending the National Assembly’s Environmental Labor Committee. Rep. Yoon’s Ahn said that workplaces with fewer than five employees are subject to the Labor Standards Act on restrictions on dismissal due to management reasons, allowances for suspension of work, working hours and vacations, and employment rules. The lawmaker’s proposal also expanded the scope of the application of the ban on harassment in the workplace, a request for relief from unfair dismissal, priority re-employment, and written notice of the reason for dismissal. The draft of the lecture hall contained the content requiring that all the provisions of the Labor Standards Act be applied to workplaces with fewer than 5 employees.
The Democratic Party also proposed a related amendment in the past 20th National Assembly, but it could not be dealt with as realistic problems emerged. However, this time, members of the People’s Strength are also in favor of expanding the application of the Labor Standards Act, increasing the possibility of amendment of the law. Members of the People’s Strength Environment and Labor Committee issued a statement in December last year and said, “I agree with the application of the Labor Standards Act to workplaces with fewer than five employees in order to form a labor law order that meets the constitutional values.”
As of last year, there are an estimated 3.2 million workplaces with fewer than 5 employees. The number of related workers is about 8.2 million, which is 40% of all workers. It is pointed out that most of these small workplaces will be mass-produced only by criminals if the standards of the Labor Standards Act are put in place. There are also concerns that small business owners and self-employed workers who fail to comply with the Labor Standards Act will fire workers in large quantities. “If the Labor Standards Act is applied to workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, there is no hope for self-employed,” said Gye Sang-hyuk, head of the National Convenience Store Association. “There is a greater disaster than Corona.” Lee Seon-Shim, chairman of the Korea Beauty Association, said, “PC cafes, convenience stores, and beauty salons, which have a lot of overtime work, cannot bear the wage burden and have no choice but to become a criminal or leave the business.”
Due to the nature of small businesses, there is also a problem that it is difficult to supervise the government in reality due to frequent opening and closing of business. For this reason, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which is a competent ministry, is also cautious about the revision of the law. Since October last year, the Ministry of Employment has been investigating the working conditions of workplaces with fewer than five employees. The survey is scheduled until June. Although annual leave is not applied to workplaces with less than 5 employees, it is a survey to examine how much it is actually used. A government official said, “Based on the results of the survey, it is a task to be comprehensively reviewed in consideration of socio-economic ripple effects, etc.,” and “the current administrative power has limitations in expanding the application of the Labor Standards Act, so it is desirable to gradually expand it through social discussions.” Said.
Reporter Dowon Lim/Seunghyun Baek [email protected]