The Manpower and Transmigration Ministry plans to release a ministerial regulation regarding outsourcing that will accommodate demands from workers concerning benefits.
The regulation, however, does not provide for the removal of any such system in the Indonesian labor system, an official at the ministry commented.
Irianto Simbolon, the director general in charge of industrial relations and laborers? social security at the ministry, said the new regulation will manage holiday allowances (THR), annual leaves and social security benefits for outsourcing workers.
It will also regulate the length of time that a company can hire an outsourcing company.
?There will be assurance that outsourcing workers [will] receive THR. They can also enjoy annual leave and [receive] social security benefits,? said Irianto in Jakarta on Monday.
He added that the regulation will shorten the license expiration date of a company that provides outsourcing services from five years to just three years.
The ministry will now review the license every six months, he said.
His comment followed last week?s massive demonstrations, when workers took to the streets across Indonesia, demanding abolishment of the outsourcing employment system being practiced by companies and demanding a system that will guarantee all workers receive job benefits.
Government data revealed that there are 16 million workers in Indonesia who work under an outsourcing system, which refers to the hiring of workers on a contractual basis through a provider.
The workers are usually hired on short-term contracts and paid a daily wage without fringe benefits, such as annual leaves, social security and severance pay if the company they work for goes bankrupt.
These 16 million workers represent around 40 percent of Indonesia?s formal labor force of 41 million.
Under the 2003 labor law, companies are actually not permitted to outsource core jobs and can only outsource five types of peripheral positions, namely security, cleaning services, catering, driving and work relating to support mining.
However, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar last week admitted that many companies operating in Indonesia outsourced most of their workers including for their core business.
He promised the ministry will verify each outsourcing company with help from local government officials such as governors and district heads, to determine whether they violate the law or not.
The president of the National Union Confederation (KSN), Ahmad Daryoko, was pessimistic that the outsourcing scheme could be successfully eradicated from Indonesia since many major companies, including foreign companies and state-owned ones, took advantage of the scheme regularly.
?It is like a scabies disease [whose] roots have spread all over the place and [are] really difficult to eradicate,? he said in a discussion about outsourcing at the University of Indonesia in Depok on Monday.
He accused many companies of taking advantage of such schemes to substantially reduce the costs of providing benefits for workers, as well as reducing company taxes.
Ahmad, who is also the chairman of the PLN labor union, blamed the government for failing to act despite knowing that mall and hotel operators regularly outsourced chefs, dishwashers and office boys.
He argued that such positions are obviously at the core of these types of businesses and are therefore off limits to being outsourced.
Some industry players, including Sofjan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), believes that outsourcing has enabled investors to cut labor costs, a necessary global trend for firms, including those in Indonesia, to survive current economic challenges.
?The source of all these strikes and demonstrations is government?s inability to monitor and implement the [labor] law,? Sofjan said.
Employers agreed, but insisted that instead of abolishing outsourcing, the government must guarantee that workers get fringe benefits, including health insurance, even as outsourced and contract laborers.
Investor Daily, JG
ashley judd second degree murders bobby petrino brian dunn vin scully petrino fired george zimmerman charged
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.