Concerns raised over South Korea’s new workplace disaster law

Foreign investment firms in South Korea are most uneasy about South Korea’s introduction of a new workplace disaster law and the country’s minimum wage raise, revealed a survey by the Korea Enterprises Federation.

Some 29.2% of foreign investment companies of over 300 employees felt most uneasy about the introduction of the workplace disaster law, followed by the minimum wage hike, at 27.7%, and the introduction of a 52-hour work week, at 18.5%. 

Under a new law set to take effect in January 2022, business owners and CEOs could face harsher sentences of a minimum one-year prison sentence or up to 1 billion won (US$855,000) in fines in the event of deadly disasters caused by lax workplace safety measures while workers are on duty. 

Foreign investment companies with fewer than 300 employees were most uncomfortable about the minimum wage raise, at 45.2%. The survey was conducted with 220 foreign investment companies with over 50 employees each.

Some 52.3% of firms believed that the current government has not improved foreign investment environment, while 42.3% believed otherwise, writes Korea Bizwire.

READ: Pay gap widens between regular and non-regular workers in South Korea

The companies also highlighted unclear legislation (31.1%), unexpected and inconsistent administrative regulations (27.9%), and rigid labour regulations and unfriendly management and labour relations (24.6%) as risk factors for operating in the country.