The Job Creation Law (UU Ciptaker) was passed by the DPR through a plenary session on March 21, 2023. Thus the law, which was previously in the form of a Perppu, has become legally binding. It is hoped that the Job Creation Law will also guarantee legal certainty for workers.
Before it was enacted, the government had actually accommodated the aspirations of the community regarding various issues regulated in the law, such as wages for workers and halal certification.
After the aspirations have been accommodated and corrected, they are entered into the Job Creation Perppu and have been ratified by the DPR. This shows that the DPR has agreed with the substance of the Perppu to become a law as proposed by the government.
In carrying out company activities, employers certainly have an obligation to fulfill the rights of every worker. Such as the right to protection, welfare, health and safety at work.
The Job Creation Law
Then in terms of wages, the Job Creation Law also regulates a minimum wage with a safety net for workers under one year’s working period. Meanwhile, for workers with more than one year of service, the Job Creation Law introduces a productivity wage.
The Job Creation Law provides bonus certainty until overtime hours. Airlangga said, in the Job Creation Law, one of them has regulated the bonus that workers will receive. The workers have even arranged overtime hours. The number of overtime hours has also been increased from three hours to four hours per day. This will certainly make workers more productive.
With this regulation, it is hoped that there will be no commotion in setting the minimum wage every year.
Minister of Manpower (Menaker) Ida Fauziyah said, from the context of employment, the Job Creation Law is proof of the government’s commitment to providing labor protection and business continuity to answer the challenges of the development of employment dynamics.
One of the guarantees that needs to be highlighted is the improvement of the reference in the article governing the use of the right to rest for which the wages are still paid in full, as well as related to the benefits of the Job Loss Guarantee program (JKP).
Previously, there was news that said that contract workers had their rights suppressed and marginalized. In fact it is not so. In Article 61 paragraphs 1-3 regarding work agreements for a certain time (contract), workers will still be given compensation according to their length of work.
The article reads:
Paragraph 1, In the event that the PKWT ends, the employer is obliged to provide compensation money to workers/laborers.
Paragraph 2, Compensation money is given according to the working period of the worker/labourer.
Paragraph 3, Further provisions regarding compensation money are regulated by PP.
Meanwhile, in article 59 paragraph 2 which reads, a work agreement for a certain time cannot be entered into for a permanent job, this article implies that a person whose status is already a permanent worker cannot be converted into a contract.
From the article it is clear that concerns related to employers who can act arbitrarily by tampering with the status and work contract are not given space by this sweeping universe law. This law actually upholds the principle of fairness in the context of the relationship between employers and workers.
In the Job Creation Law it is stated that the government will help employees who have been laid off by providing various job training. In addition, if you haven’t found a job yet, the government will provide assistance in the form of cash which will be paid for six months by BPJS Employment.
Policies related to the Job Creation Law were taken referring to the absorption of the aspirations of the Job Creation Law by the government in several regions, including Manado, Medan, Batam, Makassar, Yogyakarta, Semarang, Balikpapan and Jakarta. At the same time, studies have been carried out by various independent institutions.
The existence of adaptive protection for all workers or laborers in Indonesia is very important to be guaranteed, this is because these challenges continue to change dynamically. So that the existence of the Job Creation Law is a concrete effort from the Indonesian Government in providing this protection.
On the other hand, the Job Creation Law also provides an obligation to protect workers with disabilities. This is the mandate of Article 67 of the Job Creation Law.
In article 67 of the Job Creation Law reads, Entrepreneurs who employ workers with disabilities are required to provide protection according to the type and degree of their disability.
Knowing these things certainly deserves to be reconsidered, is the Job Creation Law detrimental to Workers or does it provide protection for Workers with legal certainty.
Of course, it is not wrong if the Job Creation Law is also called the Sweep of the Universe Law, because the regulations written in it do not only regulate business establishment or investment, but also provide protection for workers or laborers. With the passing of this regulation, it is hoped that investment will be easier and employment opportunities will be wide open.
)* The author is a contributor to Persada Institute
