The small business sector called the dismissal of a constitutional appeal over the current system, which does not mandate paid substitute holiday leave at business sites with fewer than five employees, a "very fortunate outcome."
Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) issued a commentary on the 28th, saying, "If the obligation to provide paid leave for substitute holidays had been uniformly expanded to even micro establishments at their limits, small business owners would have been saddled with labor costs they could hardly bear."
The Constitutional Court the previous day unanimously dismissed a constitutional complaint filed by five people, including the civic group Rights Union and a person surnamed Lee employed at a business site with fewer than five employees, claiming that Article 4 of the 2021 Act on Public Holidays (Public Holidays Act) is unconstitutional.
The Constitutional Court said, "The specific details of applying substitute holidays can be seen as determined by the Enforcement Decree of the same law, such as the Labor Standards Act," and found that "Article 4 of the Public Holidays Act, the provision under review, does not by itself result in restrictions on the freedom of the petitioners, the imposition of obligations, or the deprivation of rights or legal status."
KFME noted, "The reason the current Labor Standards Act and related statutes provide exceptions for applying certain provisions to business sites with fewer than five employees is that it is a minimal safeguard that takes into account the vulnerable payment capacity and difficult management realities of micro establishments, which differ from large or mid-sized companies."
It added, "While improving worker welfare and narrowing the gap in working conditions between large companies and small and medium-sized companies is an important national task, a method that shifts the expense and responsibility solely onto micro small business owners without state support cannot be the answer and must be addressed through the government's financial support and policy backing."
It continued, "With this Constitutional Court decision as a turning point, the National Assembly and labor circles should immediately halt reckless attempts to uniformly expand the application of the Labor Standards Act to business sites with fewer than five employees while ignoring the payment capacity of small business owners," and explained, "Politics and society must pool their capabilities to craft strong 'management stabilization measures' that will revive collapsing neighborhood commercial districts and help small business owners become self-reliant."