Korea sets 5% of operating profit as ceiling on new deadly-accident fines

The labor ministry will be able to fine employers up to 5 percent of their operating profit when three or more workers die in industrial accidents within a year, under a revision to the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

The revision, announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, adds a fine for violations of safety and health duties that lead to deaths. Where a company has no operating profit or the calculated amount falls below 3 billion won ($2.27 million), the penalty is capped at 3 billion won.

The law also widens the right of workers to halt dangerous work. Workers, their representatives and honorary industrial safety supervisors can now demand that an employer stop operations when there is an imminent risk of an industrial accident, or a concern that one may occur, and the employer must comply unless there are special grounds not to. Subcontractors' workers on a contractor's site may make the same demand directly of the contractor, not only of their own employer, and the contractor is likewise bound to act. Employers may not put workers back on the job until the requested measures are complete.

Workers who make such a demand for reasonable grounds are protected from dismissal or other unfavorable treatment. Those who face retaliation may apply to the Labor Relations Commission for relief under Article 28 of the Labor Standards Act.

Employers ordered by the labor minister to correct a violation may not let workers operate the machinery or equipment concerned until the correction is complete, in cases the ministry sets by decree where an accident is imminent.

The revision also adds heat waves and cold waves to the grounds for extending construction periods, effective from the day of promulgation. It establishes a Safe Workplace Committee chaired by the labor minister to review and coordinate major safety and health policies, with up to 20 members representing workers, employers and experts, and allows the minister to pay rewards to people who report violations of the law.

Most provisions take effect on April 28, 2027, six months after the law was promulgated on Tuesday. The committee and reward provisions apply three months after promulgation, and a clause on including industrial safety and health management costs in contract sums for certain industries applies one year after promulgation.