The small business community launched collective action, urging the halt of expanding the Labor Standards Act to business sites with fewer than five employees and stopping the push for the "basic law for working people." They argued that if additional labor regulations are introduced while management conditions are worsening due to rising labor costs and rents and sluggish domestic demand, the burden on small operators could reach its limit.
The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) held the "rally of all small business owners calling for safeguarding the right to survive and a major shift in employment policy" in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, at 2 p.m. on the 9th. About 3,000 officials from small business groups, including members of the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME), the National Federation of Merchant Associations, and the Korea Mart Association, attended.
They included in their resolution six key demands: ▲ halting the expansion of the Labor Standards Act to those with fewer than five employees and the push for the "basic law for working people" ▲ abolishing weekly holiday allowance and applying a differentiated minimum wage ▲ legislating the right of small business owners to organize and bargain ▲ withdrawing the plan to allow early morning delivery by big-box stores ▲ establishing a presidential special committee ▲ preparing a minimum income guarantee system.
Small business owners were clearly concerned about expanding the Labor Standards Act to business sites with fewer than five employees. Currently, business sites with fewer than five employees are excluded from the 52-hour workweek and from overtime, night, and holiday pay, as well as paid annual leave. As of Aug. 2024, workers at business sites with fewer than five employees are estimated at about 3.92 million, or 17.7% of all wage workers.
The small business community argued that, given the reality of sluggish domestic demand amid not only rising labor costs but also higher rents and raw and subsidiary material prices, expanding the application of the Labor Standards Act could act as an additional expense burden.
Ulsan KFME Chair Kim Chang-uk and Suwon Paldal-gu KFME Chair Cho I-hwa said it would "shackle struggling business sites with indiscriminate regulation they cannot afford," adding, "Legislation that ignores on-the-ground conditions and scale should be stopped."
They also raised their voices in criticism of the "basic law for working people." The basic law for working people would define as "working people" those who provide labor for another's business and receive compensation, regardless of contract form, such as specially employed workers and freelancers. The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) expects that if the bill is implemented, small business owners would have to bear an additional expense of about 5.05 million won per worker annually.
KFME Chair Song Chi-young said, "If you want that money paid, the state should pay it directly," adding, "Small business owners have no ability to pay at all."
They also drew a line against labor groups' calls to pay the minimum wage to specially employed workers. Song said, "We must distinguish by industry, region, scale, and foreign workers, and immediately abolish weekly holiday allowance, a 73-year-old, outdated system."
They also called for withdrawing the plan to allow early morning delivery by big-box stores, legislating small business owners' rights to organize and bargain by revising the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, establishing a presidential special committee for small business owners, and introducing a minimum income guarantee system for small business owners.
Song said, "The cries of small business owners who left their livelihoods to come to the capital are a legitimate voice of people's livelihoods," adding, "If the government and the National Assembly do not listen to small business owners' demands and unilaterally push through small business issues, we plan to launch a larger nationwide general strike of small business owners."