Jakarta – The Job Creation Perppu will protect workers from the threat of termination of employment (PHK). The reason is because there are various requirements before he is fired and he cannot be laid off carelessly, especially without severance pay. The Job Creation Perppu is proven to be pro-employee and does not harm the Indonesian people.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more and more workers have been laid off with the excuse that the company is losing money, or if forced, their salary must be cut in half. This will trigger a lot of unemployment. Even though unemployment will create various problems in Indonesia, so the government is trying to keep the number from booming.
One way to prevent the number of unemployed from increasing is to pass the Job Creation Perppu into law. In this Perppu there are special rules for laying off workers. There are many terms and conditions before an employee is laid off and these rules will protect employees from the threat of being fired.
The Ministry of Manpower (Kemenaker) emphasizes that termination of employment (PHK) can be carried out with the agreement of employers and workers, not unilaterally, in accordance with Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 2/2022 concerning Job Creation.
Director General of Development of Industrial Relations and Labor Social Security (Dirjen PHI JSK) of the Ministry of Manpower Indah Anggoro Putri explained that this provision had been recorded in Perppu No. 2/2022 concerning Job Creation. Termination of employment can only be carried out if the company has notified the worker in advance and he has given his approval for the termination.
Meanwhile, if an employee has been notified of the decision to terminate the termination and rejects it, the settlement of the termination must be carried out through bipartite negotiations between the employer and the workers or the Trade Union. If in practice using bipartite negotiations does not get a clear spot, then it is mandatory to carry out a settlement through the mechanism stipulated in Law no. 2/2004 concerning Settlement of Industrial Relations Disputes.
In a sense, employers cannot just layoffs because there are steps. If the employee does not accept it, he must go through the negotiation stage, and he is protected by the Labor Union. The Perppu Cipta Kerja defends workers and keeps them from the risk of being fired.
In Article 153 Paragraph 1 of the Job Creation Perppu it is stated that employers fire or terminate their employment relationship (PHK) for 10 reasons.
First, being unable to come to work due to illness according to the doctor’s statement as long as the period does not exceed 12 (twelve) months continuously. This prohibition is very good because there are companies that have the heart to lay off employees, even though they only have one day’s sick leave. Companies should not fire carelessly on the grounds that sick leave is prohibited, because those employed are humans, not robots.
Second, employees are unable to carry out their work because they fulfill obligations to the state in accordance with statutory provisions. While the third, he cannot be fired for carrying out the worship ordered by his religion. Companies may not prohibit their employees from praying for any reason. In fact, the company should facilitate employees by providing a representative place of worship.
The fourth prohibition is getting married and this rule is very important, because there are many companies that require their employees not to get married for several years. Even though getting married is a personal right and cannot be prohibited by the company, for any reason.
While the fifth prohibition is that companies may not fire employees on the grounds of being pregnant, giving birth, having an abortion, or breastfeeding their babies. Female employees are still allowed to get pregnant and get maternity leave. In fact, the regulations have been changed, from that women workers are only allowed to take leave for 3 months, to 6 months (stated in the MCH Bill).
Companies cannot fire employees on the grounds of breastfeeding because it is a human right and the baby has the right to get breast milk. Therefore, the maternity leave is increased to 6 months, so that the baby gets exclusive breastfeeding. After the leave ends, the female worker has the right to express breast milk in the space provided.
The sixth prohibition is that companies may not lay off workers on the grounds of having blood ties and/or marital ties with other workers in the same company. So, if there are two brothers in one company, one cannot be fired, for violating the Job Creation Perppu. Then if there are fellow employees who are married then that’s okay. There will be a middle way, for example, two brothers or husband and wife are placed in different divisions, even though they are still in the same company.
The next regulation is a ban on establishing or becoming a member or administrator of a labor union. This is very important because there have been many cases where employees who were active in trade unions and fought for their rights were dismissed arbitrarily.
The Job Creation Perppu has been proven to protect workers from various threats of layoffs, ranging from a ban on dismissal for being active in a labor union, to reasons of illness. This Perppu protects workers from companies that arbitrarily and arbitrarily lay off workers without heeding government regulations.
