Minister Kim Young-hoon "Yellow Envelope Act is not intended to regulate companies... A bill to resolve outsourcing and labor cost shifting"

[Financial News] Ahead of the legislation of Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act (Yellow Envelope Act), Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon, who has embarked on persuading the business community, emphasized on the 18th, "This law amendment is by no means aimed at strengthening regulations on companies or unilaterally transferring user responsibilities."
 Minister Kim visited the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul on this day and stated, "This amendment is a bill to resolve the structural contradictions in the industrial field where the working conditions of subcontracted workers are not improved due to the outsourcing strategies of the main contractor, supply chain operations centered on price competition, and labor cost shifting."
 This is the second visit by Minister Kim to the Korea Federation of SMEs since taking office. On the 24th of last month, Minister Kim also visited the Korea Federation of SMEs, the Korea Employers Federation, and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry to listen to the opinions of the business community.
 Minister Kim explained that the amendment to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act, as emphasized earlier at the Korea Federation of SMEs, is the 'Dialogue Promotion Act', 'Coexistence Act', and 'True Growth Act'.
 Minister Kim stated, "This started with the intention of resolving the repetitive conflict structure in the field, restoring a predictable negotiation order, and providing both labor and management with substantial stability and responsibility," and argued that "it is a law that aligns with the flow of international society demanding responsibility for the entire supply chain, such as the European Union's Supply Chain Due Diligence Act."
 Minister Kim intends to operate a task force (TF) in parallel to alleviate the concerns of the business community. Minister Kim also conveyed this intention when meeting with officials from the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) and the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea on the 14th.
 Minister Kim said, "We will form a TF to gather the opinions of labor and management, who are the direct parties to the system, to closely identify and review the issues and concerns raised in the field and specifically reflect them in the manual," and "We will clarify negotiation procedures and criteria to alleviate concerns about ambiguity and uncertainty."
 He added, "Even before implementation, we will visit the field to explain and thoroughly prepare to prevent confusion after the law is implemented," and "We will particularly strengthen support for negotiation adjustments between primary and subcontractors to alleviate the difficulties of subcontractors."
 Minister Kim pointed out, "If responsibilities between primary and subcontractors are clarified, the predictability of labor relations will be enhanced, reducing the legal and administrative risks of small and medium-sized enterprises," and "In the long term, it will become a foundation that substantially helps the stability of primary-subcontractor management, thereby enhancing the sustainability and reliability of the entire supply chain."

jhyuk@fnnews.com Jun-hyuk Kim Reporter