2024-01-30 22:28:00
“There are many people who do not know whether they are subject to the law, so shouldn’t we make them more aware and prepare? At least you should know that you can be a target. “Rather than just telling small businesses and small business owners to prepare, we need to postpone the application of the law and give them a period of time to prepare.”
Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, is being interviewed by this newspaper at the office of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in Sejong City on the followingnoon of the 29th. Minister Oh said, “There are aspects of the Serious Accident Punishment Act that have not been sufficiently agreed upon with the industry since it was first enacted,” and added, “It is unfortunate that it is being implemented as is while ambiguous parts remain.” /Reporter Shin Hyeon-jong
Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said in an interview held at the office of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in Sejong City on the 29th, “The Serious Accident Punishment Act has not been sufficiently agreed upon with the industry since it was first enacted, and it is regrettable that it has been implemented as is even though there are still ambiguities.” did. Since taking office on the 29th of last month, Minister Oh held a press conference jointly with the Ministry of Employment and Labor to postpone the application of the Serious Accident Act to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, even though there were a lot of pending issues such as manpower shortage for small and medium-sized businesses and increased debt for small and medium-sized businesses, and regarding 10 small and medium-sized businesses. We visited and listened to the difficulties on the ground and looked at the preparations. Below is a Q&A with Minister Oh.
-There have been continued calls for a postponement of the application of the Serious Accident Punishment Act to small businesses.
“I sympathize with the purpose of the law to protect workers, but there are limitations as it was created and implemented hastily. There is a possibility that an unprepared boss may become a criminal, and if the business closes because of this, workers will also lose their jobs. He said that if done incorrectly, the Serious Accident Act might end up being a law that causes people to lose their jobs rather than protecting workers, so a certain period of time is needed. “The Serious Accident Act was drafted very hastily, so there was no period of agreement and there were many ambiguous parts, but it was implemented as is.”
Minister of SMEs and Startups Oh Young-joo (second from the left) is toasting with attendees including Oh Se-hee (third from the left), president of the Federation of Small Businesses, at the New Year’s greetings of the Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises held at the CCMM Building in Yeouido, Seoul on the 30th. /News 1
-The opposition party claims that this is ‘government fear marketing’, saying that places like local bakeries have fewer serious disasters.
“This is absolutely not fear marketing. If you have five or more full-time workers, you are subject to the law, but the method for calculating full-time workers is very complicated, so there is a high possibility that you will not know if you are subject to the law. There are 7.3 million small business owners across the country, and the number of people subject to the law is so large that a major disaster may occur before sufficient preparation is possible. Among the 7.3 million people, how many are restaurant and bakery business owners? Even if you go to a dumpling shop, they use a mixer to grind the ingredients. “We want to let these people know that ‘I can be a target too’ and point out problems so they can respond well.”
-On the 25th, the bill to suspend the Serious Accident Act was not processed.
“As the government continues to speak with one voice, it is regrettable that the legislation was eventually failed to pass the National Assembly. Economic groups such as the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses also promised that they would not request additional bill processing if the two-year deferment bill was passed this time. “It is regrettable that we did not give the 837,000 companies that still do not know how to fulfill their safety and health obligations an opportunity to prepare.”
-What measures has the Ministry of SMEs and Startups prepared?
“There are three main things. We provide support for the ‘Severe Accident Prevention Voucher Project’ for small businesses with sales of less than 12 billion won. A total of 5 billion won will be provided to approximately 100 companies starting in March. In addition, the ‘Clean Manufacturing Environment Creation Project’ will be implemented in 2,000 small businesses with less than 5 to 10 employees to provide safety equipment. The total amount is 8.4 billion won. Lastly, we plan to encourage large companies to provide disaster prevention consulting and systems to small and medium-sized partners, which will be reflected in the evaluation of the shared growth index. However, as the number of businesses subject to the new law exceeds 830,000, the amount of support is insufficient.
-Even if the Serious Accident Punishment Act is postponed, a policy to supplement it will be needed.
“Currently, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups organization is divided into tasks for small business owners, small and medium-sized businesses, and ventures and start-ups. However, there are many pending issues that require the three organizations to come up with a comprehensive response strategy, such as the Severe Accident Punishment Act or responding to manpower shortages. “We will be reviewing the strategic organization that will address this.”
☞Who is Oh Young-joo?
Born in Masan, Gyeongsangnam-do in 1964, she graduated from Daegu Girls’ High School and Ewha Womans University’s Department of Political Science and Diplomacy. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988 following passing the 22nd Foreign Service Examination and served as Director of Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Ambassador to Yuen, and Ambassador to Vietnam. In July of last year, she was appointed as the second vice minister of foreign affairs, the first female diplomat to pass the Foreign Service Examination, and on the 29th of last month, she was appointed as the second mid-term minister of foreign affairs under the Yoon Seok-yeol government.
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