Jakarta – Deputy Minister of Manpower (Wamenaker) Afriansyah Noor stated that it is incorrect to say that in Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation, Certain Time Work Agreements (PKWT) or contract workers can be valid for life.
The Wamenaker emphasized that in the Job Creation Perppu, PKWT has a time period. Perppu Cipta Kerja does not regulate the time period for PKWT, but mandates it to be further regulated in PP 35/2021.
“There are two types of PKWT, the first PKWT is based on the time period regulated by law, a maximum of 5 years. And both PKWT are based on the completion of a particular job, the timeframe of which is determined based on the agreement of both parties and is also referred to as the scope of work completion,” said Afriansyah in the Moya Institute Webinar entitled “Perppu Job Creation and Economic Resilience” online, Friday (3 /3/2023).
Afriansyah stated that the Perppu on Job Creation was issued by the government because there was an urgent need to fulfill citizens’ rights to work. According to Afriansyah, the outbreak of the Ukrainian war and the global economic crisis were the basis for the government’s consideration in issuing the Perppu.
“And what is also important to explain is that this Perppu was born to carry out the decision of the Constitutional Court which mandates improvement through the amendment of Law Number 11 of 2020 concerning Job Creation,” said Afriansyah.
The Wamenaker continued, Indonesia still needs adequate employment opportunities. With such a global economic impact, Afriansyah stated that Indonesia could still survive.
However, there are several labor-intensive companies that have been affected by the global economic crisis. And that has led to reduced working hours, and even a reduction in the workforce.
“Those conditions made us issue this Perppu on Job Creation. Before a ‘fire’ occurs, it is better for us to prevent it so that a large fire does not occur,” said Afriansyah.
On the same occasion, Professor of Business Law at Gadjah Mada University Prof. Nindyo Pramono stated that the world is facing a “triple disruption” due to three things, namely digital technology transformation, the Covid 19 pandemic, and climate change.
In this way, social activities experience disruption, including banking, capital market, mining and employment activities which become more multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary.
Nindyo continued, to complete the various overlapping regulations of 78 laws with the conventional model takes around 17 years. So a breakthrough is needed with the omnibus law method, which unfortunately was declared conditionally unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court.
“Those were the reasons behind the promulgation of the Job Creation Law which was later amended by the Job Creation Perppu, as a result of the conditional unconstitutional MK decision,” said Nindyo.
Political Communication Observer and permanent lecturer at Pelita Harapan University (UPH) Postgraduate Program Emrus Sihombing stated that there are many benefits that can be reaped from the Job Creation Law. The economic actors of micro, small and medium enterprises greatly benefit.
“The ease of licensing, for example, gives rise to hopes for the emergence of new business actors within the scope of MSMEs,” he said.
In the future, micro business activities can increase to small businesses. Then it grew into a medium-sized business sector which in turn gave birth to large businesses.
“With the range of growth in this business sector, it is certain that the pyramid of economic welfare structure can be leveled in the community,” said Emrus.
Meanwhile, Hery Sucipto as the Executive Director of the Moya Institute stated that global economic uncertainty is still and will continue to occur until an uncertain time. And that condition cast a shadow over the national economy.
Weakening global demand as a result of these conditions could have a sizable impact on the performance of the national economy. So that anticipation is needed by the government to create legal certainty for investors, increase domestic demand, and ensure the creation of jobs.
“The government itself has issued Perppu Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation to anticipate this condition. The responses varied,” said Hery.
“However, apart from that, there are a number of conditions that must be anticipated, such as a weakening of economic growth, as well as supply chain problems which have an impact on limited supply, especially for basic goods,” he added.
