Government Working to Protect Employee Rights

Indonesian Version

  
Ricky Pratomo, Ady Thea Dian Achmad
 

 

Employment has been one of the government’s key areas of focus in recent years and is currently making the headlines again. Haiyani Rumondang, Director General of Industrial Relations Management and Social Security at the Ministry of Employment (Ministry), stated recently that the government was committed to enhancing employee protections and rights through the issuance of a number of forthcoming regulations.
 
“The government has also formulated a number of regulations which it hopes will offer significant protection for women and children, as well as disabled employees. These regulations encompass wage protections, welfare and social security for employees,” Director General Rumondang stated in a recent press release dated Monday, 17 October.
 
In her statement, the Director General went on to explain that the government has issued a total of nine regulations over the course of the last three years in a bid to protect employee rights, specifically:
 

 
Ms. Rumondang also asserted that the realization of social welfare was not merely the duty of the government but also of all of the relevant stakeholders, including trade unions and employers associations.
 
Minimum-Wage Dilemma
 
However, Mirah Sumirat, President of the Indonesian Trade-Unions Association and also the official employees’ representative at National Tripartite Board, stated recently that the Minimum-Wage Regulation did not uphold employee rights as regards fair wages, and as mandated by Article 28D (2) of the 1945 Constitution.  
 
According to Ms. Sumirat, the minimum-wage increments which are set out under the Minimum-Wage Regulation only regulate for low wages and not for the payment of fair wages. Sumirat is concerned that the new wage regulation has been based solely on considerations of economic growth and the national inflation level, as opposed to the genuine needs of employees.  
 
“The calculation of any minimum-wage increments should refer to the Employment Law, which the government should be using to first calculate the Decent Living Standards components,” Ms. Sumirat argued.
 
Ms. Sumirat then went on to reveal that currently some 60 Decent Living Standards components were regulated under Ministry Regulation No. 13 of 2012 on Components and Implementation Stages for the Achieving of Decent Living Standards. Ms. Sumirat believes that prior to the issuance of the Minimum-Wage Regulation, all of these 60 components should first have been thoroughly surveyed by the Regional Remuneration Board (Dewan Pengupahan Daerah) and the results of this process should then have been discussed by the relevant stakeholders (i.e. the government, trade unions and employer associations) in conjunction with the Remuneration Board. Subsequently, the results of these discussions should have been proposed to respective governors in order that they be incorporated into the formulation of a new minimum-wage.
 
However, in the wake of the issuance of the Minimum-Wage Regulation, the survey mechanism for Decent Living Standards and the discussion process with the Regional Remuneration Board were not invoked.
 
“The Minimum-Wage Regulation eliminates the employee’s right to discuss [the stipulation of minimum-wage],” Ms. Sumirat bemoaned.
 
Arguing from a different perspective, Hariyadi Sukamdani, the Head of the Indonesian Employer’s Association Board (Dewan Pimpinan Nasional Asosiasi Pengusaha Indonesia), stated that the current minimum-wage regulations should function as a safety-net for employees. Mr. Sukamdani also asserted that any such minimum-wage thresholds should be stipulated in a realistic manner so that they can be successfully implemented. By way of example, Mr. Sukamdani referred to Indonesia’s many small-scale industries, which may not be able to comply with the minimum-wage threshold if it is set too high. Therefore, Mr. Sukamdani is encouraging the government to set out realistic regulations which improve upon the currently unrealistic criteria for determining the minimum-wage.
 
(cd/sp)